Neil Burkhardt, who tackled a gunwoman after police say she shot her former supervisor on Feb. 4, was awarded a Citizen Service medal on Tuesday by Clark County Sheriff Garry Lucas.
Lucas commended Burkhardt for selflessly chasing down, tackling and disarming Deborah A. Lennon, a stalker who had waited for her victim to leave a meeting before opening fire, court documents say.
Burkhardt saved the life of victim Allen Bricker, who was shot twice but managed to get away from Lennon, and likely other people in the office that day, Lucas said.
Lucas said Lennon had continued to fire her weapon at Bricker until she was brought down by Burkhardt.
Lucas said Burkhardt controlled the scene, gave pertinent information to pass on to 911 and gave commands to arriving security to detain and handcuff the shooter.
Burkhardt, in turn, praised his fellow employees at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs who rushed to help Bricker before paramedics arrived, including one person who had a comprehensive first-aid kit.
They did so without knowing what exactly had happened or that the shooter had been detained, Burkhardt said. Other people helped him restrain Lennon, he added.
“There are a lot of folks out there who are just as deserving as I am,” said Burkhardt, 32, who spent almost five years in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Burkhardt injured his right hand in the scuffle, breaking a bone and tearing a tendon.
He attended Tuesday’s ceremony with his wife, Audrey, and their 3-month-old son, Franklin.
The presentation was made at the Clark County commissioners meeting at the Public Service Center.
Chairman Tom Mielke read a proclamation to honor Burkhardt.
“Courage is mastery of fear, not absence of fear,” was the first line of the proclamation, signed by Mielke and Commissioners David Madore and Jeanne Stewart.
The Department of Veterans Affairs office is at the Center for Community Health campus on Fourth Plain Boulevard.
“The prompt intervention and quick thinking by Mr. Burkhardt and his concern for others likely saved the victim from further harm and safeguarded the lives of numerous other fellow human beings,” Mielke read. “Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Clark County Commissioners hereby honors Neil Burkhardt for his heroic actions on February 4, 2014, and thanks this remarkable man for his contribution to the safety and welfare of those living and working in Clark County.”
Lennon, 47, remains in the Clark County Jail awaiting a January trial date. She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of attempted murder, assault, stalking and cyberstalking.
In a statement filed in Lennon’s case, Bricker wrote that he has one bullet lodged in his spine and a second bullet lodged in his left chest muscle.
According to court documents, Lennon was infatuated with Bricker, who never had a sexual relationship with her, and had threatened to kill him.
Bricker had received two temporary protection orders against Lennon.
Burkhardt, an executive assistant, knew Lennon, an auditor who had resigned about two years earlier, had been stalking Bricker, Lucas said.
During a brief interview following the presentation, Burkhardt said he was in a room getting mailing supplies when he saw Lennon. He said her back was to him when he was chasing her and he wasn’t scared that she’d turn around and fire at him.
Lucas said he’s awarded a Citizen Service medal fewer than five times in his 24 years in office.
