‘We knew we had to act’
Thirty-six officers were honored Friday night for their actions other than the
Oct. 1 shooting. Of those officers, seven earned the Medal of Valor for their response to a domestic violence incident in October.
Officers Steven Kaposta and D’metre Farris were in the unit that saved multiple people, including four children — two of whom were injured — from a man armed with a knife at an east valley home.
When Farris arrived with his partner, they saw a man stab and chase a child in the house.
“When it started going down, we knew we had to act,” he said. “In that moment you kind of just rely on your training.”
Kaposta and Farris helped storm the house to demand the man drop his knife. After the man was arrested, Farris said, he helped apply a tourniquet to a severely injured woman. “We took her outside, put a tourniquet on her, and we learned later on that that tourniquet saved her life,” Farris said.
Kaposta said he appreciates being honored for his part in the response.
Farris said he doesn’t consider himself a hero. “I just wanted to make sure I could help people any way I could,” he said.
Katelyn Newberg explosions started. This time, they realized they were gunshots.
Jason Aldean and his band stopped playing. Bright stadium lights suddenly illuminated the crowd. And Tran began yelling, “Get down!”
“All I was thinking about was, how do I help these people? How do I get them out?” Tran said Friday, a few hours before the sheriff would honor him with a Medal of Valor, one of the highest honors a Metro officer can receive.
On the night of the shooting,
Tran helped load the wounded into wheelbarrows and onto makeshift gurneys. He lay on top of people who were unable or too scared to move, shielding them as best he could. And he constantly directed people to exits.
When asked how many people he helped escape that night, Tran said, “Not enough.”
‘A privilege’
Officer Patrick Burke also received a Medal of Valor for his actions Oct. 1.
Like Tran, Burke was working overtime at the festival. But shortly after the shooting started, he and other officers headed across the street toward Mandalay Bay, responding to reports that the shooter was on the 32nd floor.
Burke ended up positioning himself down the hall from the gunman’s suite, weapon drawn, in case the shooter, who killed himself, tried to escape. Burke then helped evacuate guests on that floor, including an infant and the child’s nanny.
The entire time, he had “no idea the level and volume of what was going on” at the festival grounds below.
Burke said receiving the award Friday was not just an honor.
“It’s a privilege,” he said.
He realizes now that everything is not as serious as it once seemed, he said. He has more understanding and more empathy.
Tran also said the tragedy changed him.
“I try to make sure I enjoy life, hang out with my family,” Tran said, “because where we were standing, I could have been one of the 58.”
Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@ reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3801. Follow @rachelacrosby. Reviewjournal staff writer Katelyn Newberg contributed to this report.