San Bernardino officer awarded Congressional Badge of Bravery
A police officer was honored on Thursday with a national award for his courageous acts in the deadly 2015 terror attack in San Bernardino.
14 people were killed and 22 others injured when two terrorists opened fire at the Inland Regional Medical Center.
Redlands Officer Nicholas Koahou was awarded Congressional Badge of Bravery as he served as an officer for the San Bernardino Police Department during the time of the attack.
While in the midst of a shootout with the suspects, he came across a deputy who was pinned down, despite being shot in the leg, Koahou jumped in to help the deputy and others in the line of the fire.
Koahou was honored today in his hometown of Beaumont. His family has lived a life of service, both in military and law enforcement.
“I’m a third-generation police officer,” he said. “My grandfather was a police officer. My father recently retired as a police officer. My brother’s a police officer. My uncle’s a police officer. We’re all third-generation Marines as well. So, it’s kind of in our blood.”
Koahou recalls what happened while on duty during the day of a deadly terror attack in the city.
“The deputy’s fighting back, (and) guys trying to outflank him,” he said. “I was trying to close the distance between them, and everybody did what they needed to do to get home.”
The Congressional Badge of Bravery is a national award recognizing heroes putting their lives on the line for safety.
“Only about 10 a year are given nationwide and to have that Congressional Badge of Bravery given to a local hometown hero, who’s now a national hero, is incredibly humbling,” said Congressman Raul Ruiz.
Koahou says he’d do it all over again, continuing to fight every day to keep everyone safe.
“It’s very humbling, I’d never thought in my life I’d end up getting something like this, but as long as I can represent my department well and for the guys that fought just as hard as I did around me, I’ll do it any day.”
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