Six officers who responded to the San Bernardino shooting massacre in December were among those awarded the Medal of Valor on Monday.
Gov. Jerry Brown and Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris presented the medals, the highest honor California awards to public safety officials, to eight officers in a ceremony at the Capitol.
“You and your families give so much to your state and your country,” Harris, who is running for U.S. Senate, told the officers at the ceremony. “Through their sacrifice, their courage and their bravery, [the officers] did everything that was important and needed to be done for homeland security."
Redlands police Officer Joseph Aguilar; San Bernardino police Officers Brian Olvera and Nicholas Koahou; and Deputy Bruce Southworth and Cpls. Rafael Ixco and Chad Johnson of the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department were all honored for their roles in a firefight with the San Bernardino shooters.
After the terrorist attack in December at a San Bernardino government building that left 14 dead and 22 wounded, the two shooters fled the scene in an SUV. Officers cornered the car on a residential street, where a shootout ensued that left both assailants dead and two officers wounded.
California Highway Patrol Officer Brett Peters was also honored for saving a man who tried to jump off an overpass in Oakland. San Diego firefighter Alexander Wallbrett was awarded a medal for rushing to defend a colleague from a knife-wielding assailant.