Orange Police Find Work’s Danger Has Its Rewards

ORANGE —  The dead were lying in the rain and the gunman still spraying bullets from his AK47 when Orange Police Officer Derek Cook drove up.

In the next few minutes--his face soon running with blood from flying glass, and the gunman who had just killed four people at a Caltrans maintenance yard aiming for him--Cook would display the kind of courage that wins honors in his line of work.

That honor came Tuesday in a ceremony at the City Council meeting that left the presiding police official shaking off tears. Nine other officers who risked their lives in the gunfight against former Caltrans worker Arturo Torres also were honored.

The department’s highest honor, the Medal of Valor, was reserved for Cook, who, without backup and knowing he was outgunned, went to battle, Acting Police Chief Dean Richards said. It was the eighth time the medal has been awarded since the Police Department began giving it in the 1970s.

“They received their training, and it’s all geared toward that one critical incident, and then animal instinct kicks in,” Richards said.

The afternoon of Dec. 18, the training showed.

Pulling his car into the maintenance yard that Torres had turned into a battlefield that afternoon, Cook jumped out and crouched behind his open door, firing his handgun at Torres, who had the assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Eventually the other Orange police officers joined the gun battle, firing more than 300 rounds of ammunition. When it was over, Torres was dead in a nearby intersection, and one of the officers was injured.

It had been the most terrifying gun battle in Orange County history. But no bystanders had been injured.

“We will never know how many lives were saved by their actions,” Mayor Joanne Coontz said.

The awards ceremony was the first time police have publicly detailed the shooting, which began at the Batavia Street maintenance yard, and soon moved to a nearby intersection, where Torres’ sedan came to a stop when a bystander’s car blocked its path.

Cook and fellow officers Frank Kelley, Mike Young and John Warde were the first to face Torres. Seconds later, Officer Cathy Wells, Kelvin Van Gorder and Tom Bevins joined in the gun battle.

Warde was soon down, shot while he was motioning a bystander out of the way. Bleeding from an AK47 round that pierced his body armor and went into his stomach, Warde made his way to the cover of a car.

Rushing to him, Master Police Officer Sean O’Toole, Sgt. Tim Ralph and Officer Joey Ramirez pulled Warde into a car and sped to a hospital.

“It was like they always say: Everything went into slow motion,” Kelley said. “There was no communication, but we all somehow subconsciously related what we would do.”

Nine officers received the Medal of Courage. Dispatcher Mike Taylor was awarded the Medal of Distinction for keeping cool while coordinating the police effort.

Warde, the only officer injured, said no amount of training could have prepared him for the scene.

“I think about it a lot, and I think how thankful I am that everything fit together that day,” he said.

He and his fiancee moved their wedding day up to Jan. 8, marrying on his 22nd day in the hospital.

Like the others, he never has thought about looking for less dangerous work.

“He’s going back to work Monday,” said his wife, Amy Beth Warde. “That says it all.”