Last summer, police officers confronted a gunman who tried to rob a Leesburg jewelry store and held people hostage in two homes.
When the officers arrived at one of the homes, the gunman fired at them, then barricaded himself inside for about nine hours. This summer, the two officers who first responded to that scene were honored for their work. Leesburg police Detective Matt Hackney and Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Chris Coderre received the Valor Award this month from the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police.
The award is given annually to officers who show “heroism while engaged with an adversary at imminent personal risk,” according to the association, which calls the award its highest honor.
The store owner fled the scene during the attempted robbery in July 2009. The suspect chased and fired at him. The gunman then entered a home occupied by a baby sitter and a 2-year-old child. He locked the two in a bathroom. When the home owners returned, the gunman threatened them at gunpoint and fled in their vehicle. He entered the home of another couple, locked them in their bathroom and barricaded himself inside. Hackney and Coderre responded to the hostage situation.
They confronted the gunman as he tried to leave in the owners’ car. When Hackney and Coderre ordered him to surrender, he fired at the officers and re-entered the residence. Backup officers were called to the scene, and police negotiated with the gunman for nine hours before he surrendered.
Other Virginia police officers who received the Valor Award this year are Danville Cpl. Samuel Bray; Newport News officers Richard Mojica, Gregory Seaborne and Joseph Torres; and Portsmouth officers Frank Natal and Scott Blystone and SWAT medic Jeff Yates. Charlie Deane, the Prince William County police chief, received the association’s President’s Award.
