During Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Brownwood City Council at City Hall, Brownwood Police Chief James Fuller presented officers Kris Salazar, James Holdar, Caden Goodman and Zachary Bessent Medals of Valor for their roles in responding to a July shooting incident.

Fuller told those in attendance, “The evening of July 7 into July 8, officers responded to an emergency call of a man shooting a firearm in front of a residence. What proceeded from that moment was nothing short of the attempted murder of Brownwood police officers. Officers James Holdar and Caden Goodman were the first officers to be fired upon. And on two separate occasions that suspect drove to them, left, and then came back. He came back with nothing but murderous intent, shooting an automatic firearm.

“He left that area and drove straight toward Cpl. Kris Salazar and Officer Zachary Bessent, who were responding to their brothers’ calls for help. At that very moment, he drove at them with that same murderous intent. Cpl. Salazar and Officer Bessent, through sheer will, courage and training, remained focused and at that moment ended the threat.

“All officers that evening displayed exceptional bravery in the face of imminent risk of serious injury. Everyone reacted and then acted immediately to protect themselves, to protect their brothers, and to protect this community.

“For your courage, for your steadfastness, for your teamwork, you’re being awarded the Medal of Valor in recognition for your exceptional bravery at imminent risk of serious bodily injury. Your action that morning reflects great credit upon you, the department, and upholds the highest traditions of our law enforcement profession. For that we are indeed thankful.”

Salazar, who was wounded during incident, was also presented the department’s Purple Heart.

Fuller said, “You are being awarded the Purple Heart for the wounds you received during that incident. You truly, amazingly with literally no reaction time, you faced that danger head on, you stayed in that fight, and not only did you stay in the fight, you stayed afterwards to support your team. I’m deeply proud to present to you this Purple Heart.”

Brownwood Mayor Stephen Haynes added, “When we have incidents in our nation like Uvalde or Shady Hook or those shootings, and everyone wants to come in and they want to focus on what went wrong. What we have here in Brownwood is something that didn’t make national news, but everything went right. That’s not lost on me. You guys faced an incident that could have been of epic proportion with people within our community and the neighborhood being killed. You risked your own lives for the safety of others, and I wish it made national news when our law enforcement and local heroes did everything right every step of the way. It’s a great credit to your training, a great credit to your character, and a great credit to the people we have in Brownwood that we’re blessed with.”

Dispatchers Aaron McNeely, Liana Winters and Charity Graves were also recognized with challenge coins presented by Fuller in appreciation for their service to the Brownwood Police Department and the City of Brownwood.

Fuller said, “One group that through this event has been rarely mentioned, but is still so vital to the law enforcement community and the mission we have each and every day, and that is our dispatch staff. Liana Winters, Aaron McNeely and Charity Graves were the first to take the calls. They were the first to answer the radio, and they were the ones providing service to the officers on the streets. They were the calm voice and peace when the officers themselves are trying not to scream . For that, we are truly grateful and thankful for that.”