In addition to honoring the victims of Monday’s Boston Marathon bombings on Tuesday, the Assembly remembered those affected by the Oak Creek shootings that occurred last August.
Lawmakers honored Oak Creek police officers Brian Murphy and Sam Lenda for their services at the shooting that killed five people at a Sikh Temple last summer. in their session Tuesday. Rep. Mark Honadel, R-South Milwaukee, who helped plan the award, called them “hometown heroes.”
Both Lenda and Murphy responded to event last August, where a shooter killed five people and wounded several others. The gunman shot Murphy 12 times and was eventually brought down by Lenda.
Murphy, who celebrated his 22nd anniversary as an Oak Creek police officer Monday, still spoke with a hoarse voice as he accepted the award the day after Monday’s tragic bombings. Murphy said citizens’ response to the Boston attacks “showed what the American people are made of.”
“What we did is the same thing that you would do, is to put yourself aside for the greater good,” Murphy told legislators.
Murphy praised people in Boston for running toward the explosions to help out others.
Lenda agreed, telling reporters before the session that the Boston attack showed heroism from citizens.
“A lot of people run away,” Lenda said. “There’s very few that run towards it. Those are the people that are cut from a special cloth. I didn’t just see blue there. I was watching a lot of the video on TV. I saw just citizens helping out – people taking off their shirts, people taking off their belts, using them as tourniquets.”
Honadel called the officers one of the “finest” on the force and praised them for their work that day.
“With hometown heroes like these gentlemen, we seem to get through crises a little easier,” Honadel said.
Their heroism was also recognized by President Barack Obama, who scheduled a meeting with Lenda and invited Murphy as a guest at his State of the Union speech earlier this year, Honadel said.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he could not think of a “more fitting day” to give the award, as it came the day after the Boston attacks. Representatives also passed a resolution expressing condolences for the victims of the attacks and their families.
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said the Boston attacks were a reminder of the recent tragedies in Wisconsin. In addition to the Sikh temple shooting, a gunman killed three at a Brookfield spa last year.
“A day like yesterday reminds us that before we’re Democrats or Republicans or conservatives or progressives, more importantly, we’re all Americans,” Barca said.
Gov. Scott Walker announced Tuesday state buildings’ flags will be flown at half-staff until April 20, going along with a similar federal proclamation.
Walker sent his condolences to the victims of the attacks in a statement yesterday.
“There is no explanation or the kind of evil that seeks to destroy,” Walker said. “Our hearts go out to the victims of the bombing today in Boston. Tonette and I join our fellow Americans in sending our prayers and deepest sympathies to those injured and the families of those killed.”
