Posted: 6/24/2004 8:10:58 AM EDT
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http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2004/06/24/sections/local/local/article_145496.php Thursday, June 24, 2004 Courage in the line of fire Three Long Beach police officers are the first to receive Medal of Valor. By JIM HINCH The Orange County Register SACRAMENTO – They were sitting around, deciding whether to have Italian or Mexican for lunch. Three minutes later, they had killed a man and were crouched by the dead body of a 7-year-old girl. Screams filled the room. William Johnston, a Long Beach police officer who lives in Garden Grove, and his two partners got a vague call about someone shooting in a store that May 30, 2002, afternoon. They debated whether to respond. Most such calls turn out to be duds - a car backfiring, maybe. But when they arrived at the Top Valu market in downtown Long Beach, they found a devil's playground. A man was roaming the aisles shooting people, a gun in each hand. He had killed a checker and the girl. Four others lay bleeding. The girl's mother was kneeling, trying to shake life into her daughter's body. In a Capitol ceremony Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger awarded the three officers the state's first police Medal of Valor for their response. The award, established in 2002 for extraordinary bravery, is the highest honor the state can award a peace officer. "It's the type of situation I'd been waiting for all my life," said Johnston, a 35-year-old former Navy SEAL who arrived at the scene with his partner, Ciaran Crawford, 33. They were followed 10 seconds later by Bret Milovich, who was raised in Irvine and now lives in Long Beach. "I looked at my partner and he looked at me. He said, 'Hey, let's go,'" Johnston said. Soon after entering the store, Johnston said he crouched behind a checkout stand. He tried standing up, but bullets whizzed 2 feet over his head. Moments later, he saw Antonio Pineiro, 48, peer out from behind a potato chip display. Johnston shot Pineiro nine times. Crawford shot him twice more. Pineiro resisted as the officers tried to handcuff him, then died a few hours later at the hospital. "I was just shocked," Johnston said. "I couldn't believe it all. I go from deciding to have lunch, now I'm in a shooting with some psychopath." THE OFFICERS William Johnston Age: 35 Raised in: Seattle Lives in: Garden Grove "You hate these types of situations, because people lose their lives. But you want to be close so you can do something." Bret Milovich Age: 33 Raised in: Irvine Lives in: Long Beach "His (Schwarzenegger's) words I felt were from the heart." Claran Crawford Age: 33 Raised in: Ireland Lives in: Long Beach No motive was found for the rampage. When police checked Pineiro's apartment nearby, they found the decomposed bodies of his parents lying in a back bedroom. Pineiro had used a drying agent to mummify the bodies. He was later suspected to have been mentally ill. "He didn't look like someone I could think would be doing this," said Johnston of Pineiro, who was portly and bald. "It took a few days to calm down. ... You hate these types of situations because people lose their lives. But you want to be close so you can do something." Before draping the medals over the officers' heads, Schwarzenegger said: "The most important virtue is courage. And without it, we don't have the strength to exercise any virtue." Going on to describe his stunt exploits in action movies, Schwarzenegger turned to the officers and said: "This is a real-life hero." Replied Johnston when the ceremony ended: "I felt proud. It's a good deal." The three officers made a holiday out of the awards ceremony. They arrived in Sacramento on Tuesday with their girlfriends and Milovich's parents, Paul and Annie Milovich of Irvine. Asked what they did Tuesday night, Johnston grinned and raised a cupped hand to his mouth. "It's no secret; we like to drink," he said, drawing a laugh from the other two. They spent Wednesday sightseeing, then sat in a row in their uniforms, waiting for Schwarzenegger's arrival at the 2 p.m. ceremony. Afterward, they marveled at the governor's green alligator-skin boots and movie-star aura. "It was an honor," Johnston said. "I've been watching his movies since I was a kid. He's been my childhood hero. He had some really cool boots." Copyright 2004 The Orange County Register | Privacy policy |User agreement |