Valor Awards
Bronze Medal of Valor
Officer John Londono
Officer Jason Luis
Elizabeth Local 4
Partners against crime
It was part training, part partner awareness that allowed Officers
John Londono and Jason Luis to handle an armed suspect so suc-
cessfully on Jan. 27. The two went through the police academy to-
gether and, 10 years later, they responded to a scene of shots fired as
Elizabeth Local 4 officers.
“We just have confidence working with each other,” Londono
shared at the 121st Valor Awards, where the partners were presented
with a Bronze Medal of Valor. “Working together for so many years,
we just respond to what the other does.”
The Local 4 officers were on patrol together when they heard shots
fired near the train station in Elizabeth. They immediately turned
their vehicle around to assess the scene when they saw two suspects
running down the street.
“When we jumped out (of the car), the first guy was pointing to the
other, yelling, ‘That’s the guy who shot me!’” Luis detailed.
Working off of instinct, Londono responded to the first runner
while Luis took off after the second suspect. Confirming that the first
runner was the victim, Londono joined his partner on the chase after
the armed suspect.
“Both of us were able to tackle him on the corner of Commerce
Place,” Luis continued. “He had a handgun on him that we were able
to wrestle away.”
Further investigation showed that the victim was exiting a liquor
store when the suspect approached him and threatened to rob his
belongings. The victim was shot in the leg before crossing paths with
the Local 4 officers who fearlessly chased after the dangerous sus-
pect to end the threat.
“Instinct takes over and you kind of just spring into action,” Luis
explained. “One minute you’re driving down the street (and) the
next, you’re chasing a guy with a gun.”
For how unpredictable the job of an officer can be, Luis and Lon-
dono were especially thankful to return home from work that day,
unharmed. After working together for more than 10 years, these
partners knew that they could trust one another’s instincts to secure
the scene and end the threat with everyone involved being able to
walk away from the incident.
“We don’t go into this job thinking that we want to hurt somebody,”
Londono stressed. “We always want to help somebody. We wrestled
the gun away and that’s all that mattered to us. He was alive and we
were alive and we were able to go home at the end of the night.” d
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