Biden honors 9 with Medal of Valor, including two NYPD officers killed in ambush

Two New York City police officers who were killed in a January 2022 ambush and the rookie cop who struck down the gunman were among nine first responders honored Wednesday by President Biden with the Medal of Valor.

The Medal of Valor is the nation’s highest award for first responders. Of the roughly 2 million public safety officers across the country, less than a dozen receive the award each year.

NYPD officers Wilbert Mora and his partner, Jason Rivera, were gunned down after responding to a domestic violence call in a Harlem apartment on Jan. 21, 2022. Rookie officer Sumit Sulan then entered the apartment and killed the gunman.

Rivera, 22, and Mr. Sulan had been officers for less than a year at the time of the incident, while Mora, 27, was in his fourth year. All three were promoted to detective — with the fallen officers honored posthumously. Mr. Sulan was presented with detective shield No. 332 to symbolize his “three brothers” from the 32 Precinct, New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at the time.

“They are what law enforcement of this country should be,” Mr. Biden said of the three officers, adding “our nation is forever in debt” to them.

“A very dark day for the city of New York could have been that much more tragic with a much higher body count if it wasn’t for Detective Sulan,” the president said.

Mr. Biden also honored three members of the New York Fire Department: Lt. Justin Hespeler, who rescued a newborn baby from a burning house; Lt. Jason Hickey, who saved a man from drowning in the Harlem River, and firefighter Patrick Thornton, who rescued a man trapped under a capsized boat off the coast of Staten Island.

“I don’t know all of you, but I do know you. From small towns and big cities, you are cut from the same cloth. You run into danger when everyone else runs away from danger You possess a selflessness that’s literally impossible to explain,” Mr. Biden said of the honorees.

Other Medal of Valor recipients include:

– Cpl. Jeffrey Farmer of the Littleton, Colorado Police Department, who risked his life to save a wounded fellow officer shot in the line of duty.

– Deputy Bobby Hau Pham of the Clermont County, Ohio Sheriff’s Office, who dived into frigid waters to save a drowning woman who had driven her car into a lake.

– Sgt. Kendrick Simpo of the Houston Police Department. He tackled a man carrying an assault-style weapon and 120 rounds of ammunition while roaming a crowded shopping mall. No one was injured.