FAIRBORN — The Fairborn Police Department honored five officers, a K9 Unit officer, two dispatchers and a sergeant who displayed acts of courage during an April 2 incident in which an officer was shot.
Fairborn dispatchers Amy Pease and Kristina Forsythe, officers Connor Mulcahy, Seldon Patterson, Patrick Taubert, Joe Walton and Joshua Lightner as well as K9 Unit Officer Rod Myers and Sergeant Bill Titley were each honored with plaques and letters of recommendation, which were given to them and placed in their personnel files.
To the police officials on duty, however, said they were “just doing their job.”
“I’m very proud — they demonstrated what their training is all about,” Fairborn Police Chief Terry Barlow said. “They responded in a quick manner and made snap decisions.”
Police were dispatched April 2 to Fairborn Apartments following reports of shots being fired. Officers were able to track the suspect to a different location on Archer Drive, where the suspect, Luke Easterday, shot Sergeant Titley in the arm. Chief Barlow said an officer being shot while on duty is the second worst thing that can happen to a law enforcement official, the first is being killed in the line of duty.
Following the shot, Officer Lightner provided immediate medical care to Titley while remaining vigilant of the scene. At the same time, Fairborn K9 Unit Officer Myers also made contact with the suspect.
“Sergeant Titley personally requested they be honored,” Barlow said. “They were young officers and they did exceptionally well.”
In addition to the plaques, Myers was additionally given the distinguished service award for his actions that went above and beyond, while Lightner and Titley also each received the medal of valor for risking their lives on the line of duty.
Titley, who wrote the letter suggesting that the law enforcement officials who responded to the April 2 incident are honored, highlighted that the officers on scene “work hard” and, with an exception to Myers, were “doing things they had never experienced before.”
“It’s nice to be appreciated,” he said. “But it was them — not me … They took care of business.”
