Valor Awards
Bronze Medal of Valor
Sergeant Christopher M . Cummings Bellmawr Local 375
When off-duty calls
Nobody was happier to be here more than Bellmawr Local 375 ’ s Christopher Cummings . For the way Cummings put himself in harm ’ s way on Sept . 1 , 2016 – off duty no less – his opportunity to be present certainly accentuated the celebration taking place at the PBA ’ s annual Atlantic City Valor extravaganza .
“ I want to thank the New Jersey State PBA for recognizing what I did on Sept . 1 and bringing me here with my family ,” Cummings honored . “ And bless all the officers for what they do .”
Just being here is a blessing for Cummings and his family . Talk about returning to the scene of the crime : Cummings brought his kids to Atlantic City on this Thursday before Labor Day , and they were doing a little shopping at the Tanger outlets – the area known as “ The Walk ” – when Cummings walked into a store and into an active-shooter situation .
A suspect , 55-year-old Luis Maisonet , entered the store with a gun in his hand , shot another man and then turned the gun on himself . After securing his family , Cummings immediately advanced on Maisonet and wrestled the firearm from the subject ’ s possession . He then maintained control of the suspect
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until backup arrived and took Maisonet into custody .
After more than a year and receiving many honors , including being a guest of Atlantic City Mayor Donald Guardian at a concert on the beach that Labor Day weekend , Cummings has done his best to put the incident in the rear-view mirror . And the sense of duty that enabled him to act that day has also allowed him to maintain a valuable perspective on his heroics .
“ I guess there ’ s still a little bit of shock ,” Cummings relates . “ I wasn ’ t expecting it . You ’ re just shopping , and things go out of control . But you look at it as a positive outcome overall . I was able to get out of the situation without my family getting hurt , without anyone else getting hurt and without myself getting hurt .”
During the past year , Cummings has contemplated what makes a law enforcement officer jump into the fray on his day off with his kids in tow . He nods to the fact that officers who have been on the job for a long time like he has , and who have had the high caliber of overall training like so many valor award winners have , don ’ t even give it a second thought .
“ I think it ’ s more you react before you think ,” Cummings submits . “ If you think about it , I did put myself in a bad situation . But you just do what you know , and you know it was the right thing to do .”
Even more than a year after the response , Cummings tries to deflect the accolades . Accordingly , he came to the Valor Awards to bask in the glow of the evening rather than the glory . He came to applaud his sisters and brothers being honored as loudly as they clapped for him .
“ We do the job for a long time and there ’ s not a lot of recognition , unfortunately ,” Cummings elaborated . “ When you get a chance , however , it ’ s nice to be rewarded for what you have done .”
Perhaps as a final look back on his bravery , Cummings offered the most important perspective of what to take away from that Thursday afternoon .
“ You ’ re never really off duty ,” he asserts . “ You always have to be aware and try to be prepared .” d