WASHINGTON, D.C. During his first award presentation at the White House, President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Valor to U.S. Capitol Police officer David Bailey, the North Carolina Central University graduate who held back a gunman who opened fire on a group of Republicans as they practiced for a charity baseball game in Alexandria, Va., on June 14.Bailey along with his colleague Crystal Griner, who also received the medal were among the five individuals who were injured during the shooting.”Despite their injuries, both officers heroically continued to face down the gunman until they brought him down,” Trump said during the ceremony on Thursday.The Medal of Valor is America’s highest military decoration given to military service members who have distinguished themselves by acts of bravery.The shooting left House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) severely wounded. Scalise, who was shot in the hip and suffered damage to blood vessels and some internal organs, was discharged from the hospital last Tuesday, six weeks after the shooting. According to MedStar Washington Hospital, he will now begin “a period of intensive inpatient rehabilitation.”Bailey was at the field guarding Scalise, who was practicing with colleagues, staff, lobbyists and children, when James Hodgkinson opened fire on the group around 7 a.m. on June 14.Law enforcement officers were notified that Hodgkinson asked a group of lawmakers that were leaving the practice if they were Republicans or Democrats; minutes later shots rang out.Americans, including the president, praised Bailey and Griner for quickly returning fire on Hodgkinson and preventing any casualties. Hodgkinson, who was shot, later died from his injuries.Bailey graduated from N.C. Central in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and was active in campus student government and fraternity life.”The motto of this university is ‘Truth and Service,'” NCCU Associate Vice Chancellor Ayana Hernandez said when reached by phone the day after the shooting. “And I think as the whole world saw, Mr. Bailey truly exemplified truth and service today with his bravery.”
