The Atlantic City police officer who shot and killed a suspect after his partner was wounded was honored Friday.
But Officer Thomas McCabe said he didn't act alone in saving his partner who was shot before dawn Sept. 3, as the two officers interrupted the armed robbery of three teenagers.
What was already a "close-knit" group of officers came together to save Officer Josh Vadell after he was shot in the head, McCabe said.
"I'm proud to be an Atlantic City cop," he said Friday. "Even with everything going on, I can't imagine being in another department and getting treated the way I am."
Vadell was also at the presentation along with his wife, Laura, who gave birth to their third daughter after the shooting.
"We're getting back to our new normal," she said, adding that her husband is preparing for his third surgery.
"These guys are true American heroes," Police Chief Henry White said
during a ceremony before roll call Friday. "They went out and risked their lives to save three youths that were being robbed at gunpoint."
McCabe received a new bulletproof vest from the Safariland Group as part of its Heroic Action Replacement Program.
McCabe and Vadell were on patrol around 2:30 that morning near the Caesars parking garage when they saw three teens being robbed at gunpoint.
Vadell barely made it out of the car when he was shot. The suspect then continued shooting at McCabe, according to information released by the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office.
McCabe returned fire, getting off 16 rounds before losing sight of the suspect.
The suspect, Jerome Damon, collapsed about a block and a half away, where he was pronounced dead. Two other men are charged in the crime.
Both officers were wearing body cameras, but because of the quickness of events, neither got a chance to turn them on, acting Prosecutor Diane Ruberton said.
Last week, a grand jury found
McCabe was justified in shooting the suspect.
