BOSTON — The team of troopers who killed a man after he shot and killed an Auburn police officer earlier this year were honored by the Massachusetts State Police Monday.
The awards ceremony was held at the Statehouse to honor 66 people, including those involved in that raid, for outstanding service to the Mass. State Police.
Trooper AJ Kardos, Trooper Michael Baker and Trooper Scott McDonald, of a special ‘tactical operations’ team, were awarded the Medal of Honor – MSP’s highest honor – for the gunfight with the violent felon who shot and killed Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr.
“We knew that something could happen, but we never focused on it, so when we got the call, it was like walking into a wall, you know?” Officer Tarentino’s mother Sharon said.
During the shootout, Kardos was shot in the shoulder.
“It was a hard day for everybody involved, continues to be difficult I'm sure for the Tarentinos,” Trooper AJ Kardos said. “Now my life and their life is sort of linked together forever, but that's okay. It's okay to be reminded of those things from time to time.”
Other troopers on scene were honored with the Medal of Merit, including a K-9 trooper and his dog, while paramedics from the UMass Medical Center were given distinguished service awards.
A State Police Bomb Squad Sergeant was also honored for chasing down a shooting suspect on foot after finishing his duties at the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Other awards will go to:
- A trooper who was dragged 300 feet while hanging from a motor vehicle driven by a heroin trafficker he was arresting; a trooper who captured an armed shooting suspect in New Bedford.
- A trooper who rescued a hypothermic teenager who fallen into an icy pond; a trooper and off-duty firefighter who restrained a man who was trying to jump off the Tobin Bridge.
- Troopers and Good Samaritan civilians who assisted numerous people during medical emergencies, and State Police dispatchers who fielded 911 calls for two separate unfolding critical incidents, provided important instructions to the callers, and coordinated complex multi-agency emergency responses.
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>>Suspect in fatal Auburn police officer shooting dead; trooper hurt in shootout
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