Idaho Falls Police officer receives Valor Award for heroic response to man shooting at trooper
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IDAHO FALLS — Idaho Falls Police Officer Mitch Bierma was honored with the Valor Award from the Greater Idaho Falls Police Foundation Thursday afternoon.
Bierma has been a police officer for ten years and has been a certified K9 handler for the past four years. He and his partner Argo have had around a dozen apprehensions during their time working together.
Bierma received the award for his actions in responding to a call on Dec. 4, 2023. An Idaho State Police trooper stopped a vehicle in the Candlewood Suites parking lot. A man got out of the front passenger seat and started firing a gun at the trooper.
At that exact moment, Bierma pulled into the parking lot and the man fired shots at the officer before running away.
Bierma chased the suspect, who ended up shooting himself in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“If you look at that video, I firmly believe the suspect was going after the Idaho State Police trooper when Officer Bierma showed up. He turned his focus to Officer Bierma and fired rounds at him,” Idaho Falls Police Capt. Jessica Marley said. “Clearly Officer Bierma reacted in a way that was above and beyond what his duties were required. He chased a bad guy and helped apprehend him in the course of being fired at. It doesn’t get more difficult or daring than what he did.”
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Bierma was one of five law enforcement officers from the Idaho Falls region honored during the awards ceremony at Melaleuca. MVP awards were presented to an Idaho Falls Police officer, Bonneville County Sheriff’s deputy, and Idaho State Police trooper, along with a Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award.
Photo courtesy Idaho Falls Police Department
Family members, colleagues, elected representatives and friends honored the officers for their work as videos were shown featuring interviews with each recipient and their supervisors.
EastIdahoNews.com shared videos of the five recipients over the past five days. You can watch the entire awards ceremony here.