WASHINGTON — Four Concord police officers were honored with the Medal of Valor, the nation's highest award for public safety officers, for their actions during a shootout in December 2020 that killed one officer in the line of duty.
President Joe Biden awarded the medal to Officer Paul Stackenwalt, Officer Kyle Baker, former Officer Kaleb Robinson and posthumously recognized Officer Jason Shuping, who was killed during the incident.
Shuping and Robinson were responding to a reported carjacking when they found the suspect at the Sonic restaurant on Gateway Lane, just off Bruton Smith Boulevard. When officers approached, the suspect, identified as Jeremy Daniels, began shooting. Robinson and Shuping were hit by gunfire. Daniels was killed by responding officers during a shootout.
"You're the heart and soul and the very spine of this country and your communities," Biden said during the ceremony.
"We know that nothing will ever be enough to recognize all that you have lost," Attorney General Merrick Garland said to Shuping's family.
A bridge in Concord near the scene was renamed to honor Shuping earlier this year.
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