ST. LOUIS — Police officers who responded to the shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School last fall were honored Wednesday by city and business leaders and top department brass.
The 22 officers honored at the 2nd District Police Business Association’s annual awards luncheon led a widely praised response to the incident, which ended with the death of the shooter less than 15 minutes after school security called 911. Officers got the call at 9:11 a.m., raced to the school at Kingshighway and Arsenal Street to confront 19-year-old Orlando Harris, and reported him down at 9:25 a.m.
“I don’t know how you did it,†said Alderman Joe Vollmer, of the Hill neighborhood, who choked up as he spoke. “God bless you.â€
People are also reading…
Harris had killed two: student Alexzandria Bell, 15, and physical education teacher Jean Kuczka, 61. Four others were shot.
But officials have repeatedly said things could have been so much worse if it weren’t for the rapid response.
Officers honored included: Michael Mueller, Demetrias Elston, Matt Simpson, Eric Bartlett, Matthew Frichtl, John Russo, Robert Weast, Nick Muehlheausler, Andrei Nikolov, Robert Skaggs, Keith Major, Lauren Seeber, Timothy Simms, Sisavath Singharath, Damian Caruana, James Orr, John Vanarsdale, Nicola Walker, James Massey, Darnell Willis, Jon Amesquita and Megan Rodgers.
Several other officers were also honored for their work last year. Officials cited Officer Jacob Oglesby for a successful investigation into domestic abuse in January. They lauded Officer Kristopher Hunt for forcing the surrender of an armed suspect in September. And they highlighted officers Daniel DeVasto and Joshua Martin for getting a family out of a burning house on Christmas Eve.
They also named Detective Lauren Seeber officer of the year, citing work that led to arrests in connection with a hit-and-run that killed a young man in July, a series of robberies in the city and ºüÀêÊÓƵ County in August and alleged child abuse in December.
The Wednesday event organized by the 2nd District association, which supports officers on the city’s southwest side, drew businesspeople, politicians and current and former police officers, including new city Chief Robert Tracy, to ºüÀêÊÓƵ University High School. Political figures in attendance included Vollmer, former Mayor Lyda Krewson, State Rep. Donna Baringer, Alderman Tom Oldenburg, of ºüÀêÊÓƵ Hills, and Alderman Joe Vaccaro, of Lindenwood Park.