HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2018-04-20 Valor Awards
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
April 20, 2018
Media Contact:
Betsy Arnett, Public Information Officer
barnett@leesburgva.gov 703-771-2734
Leesburg Police Officers Honored for Lifesaving Efforts at
Loudoun Chamber Valor Awards
Leesburg, VA (April 20, 2018) –
Four members of the Leesburg
Police Department received
Lifesaving Awards at the 33rd
annual Loudoun Chamber Valor
Awards this afternoon. The Valor
Awards recognize public safety
professionals and civilians for
heroic efforts to save lives,
despite their own personal risk.
Quote from Chief Brown
The officers and the incidents for which they were honored included:
Master Police Offcer Gabriel
On the morning of December 4, 2017, MPO Gabriel Ascunce was on duty as a school resource
officer at Heritage High School when he was alerted that a student’s mother had called the
school to report that she had received a suicide note from her son via text message. Officer
Asunce located the student in a locked restroom stall, unconscious with a sweatshirt tightly
wrapped around his necl. With the assistance of School Safety Security Specialist Robert Smart,
Officer Ascunce unlocked the stall and revived the student who was then transported to the
hospital.
Officer Melissa Taylor, Officer Brad Codori, and Officer Wayne Gray
In the early morning hours of January 1, 2017, officers were dispatched to the Clarion Inn on
East Market Street to a report of a gunshot wound victim. Officer Taylor located the victim in
parking lot, with gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. She, Officer Codori and Offi cer
Gray administered emergency first aid using a trauma kit. The victim was transported to Inova
Fairfax Trauma Center and survived his injuries.
# # #