Jacob Werner, a Perham High School graduate, earned a Medal of Valor last month at the Best of the Badge Awards for his work on the SWAT team of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Werner’s commendation relates to an incident he and the SWAT team responded to on June 24, 2017, according to information from the awards. A woman bleeding from two gunshot wounds fled to her neighbor’s house, while her 4-year-old daughter was being held hostage by her abuser.
When officers arrived, the front door was open, and the suspect was in the doorway with a handgun and extra magazines on his gun belt. Moments later, he shut the door and fired two rounds inside the house. SWAT confirmed the 4-year-old was still in the house and the suspect would shoot it out if officers came near him.
SWAT made entry and Werner quickly grabbed the 4-year-old girl and took her outside to safety.
“SWAT, which trains as a unit for the worst circumstances, worked with impressive precision to save a little girl and reunite her with her mother,” a program from the awards ceremony says. “Their actions are nothing less than heroic.”
