North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Daniel Harrell received the Congressional Badge of Bravery from Sen. Thom Tillis. (Photo: WRAL Screen Shot)
A North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper who was seriously wounded during a 2019 shooting received the Congressional Badge of Bravery Monday.
Trooper Daniel Harrell was shot in the face and neck. A suspect rammed his patrol car. Still, he continued pursuit until backup could arrive and make an arrest, WRAL reports.
“He stopped. I stopped behind him,” Harrell told the North Carolina Department of Transportation in 2019. “Just as I was about to get out of my car, he leaned out the window and fired approximately four times, striking me in the corner of the lip and just above my eye.”
Congressman G.K. Butterfield and Sen. Thom Tillis were on hand. State troopers lined the auditorium at Wilson Community College.
John David Jones, the driver of the car Harrell tried to pull over, is serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison, convicted of unlawful possession of ammunition. Two other men were charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle in connection with the crime.
The initial stop was for illegal towing.
