The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas today honored the four Federal Protective Service officers who neutralized a shooter who opened fire on the Cabell Courthouse on June 17.
“It’s been 73 days since a gunman opened fire on the Cabell Federal Courthouse," U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox said at a private ceremony inside the building Wednesday morning. “A courthouse is one of a few essential nodes within the body politic. It's where cases are adjudicated, where justice is handed out, and where so much federal business is done. To target a courthouse is to target a pillar of our civil society. And it’s not just any house. It’s our house."
The four FPS officers - tasked with guarding premises, including the roughly 150 Justice Department employees housed inside the building - were granted U.S. Attorney’s Awards of Excellence.
Stationed that day on the south side of the building, all four FPS officers worked swiftly to clear the lobby and sidewalk, and assumed positions of advantage to return the shooter’s fire.
Their names are being withheld at the request of FPS.
“Too often, these situations end in tragedy - families grieving, victims inalterably injured, said U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox. “But that day, not one single federal employee or citizen visiting the courthouse lost their life. Not one was seriously physically injured. And that is thanks to you. When danger came, you acted swiftly and selflessly. For that, we can never thank you enough."
Also in attendance at today’s ceremony was FPS Regional Director Cathy Long, representatives from the Department of Homeland Security police force, and grateful U.S. Attorney’s Office employees.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
