Arlington police recruit gets Medal of Valor from Missouri governor

A former sergeant with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office who is now an Arlington Police Department recruit received Missouri’s Medal of Valor on Monday for stopping an armed murder suspect from killing the patrol officers who were trying to stop him.

Jason Jameson shot and killed a man who killed three people and was shooting at officers, a news release from the Arlington Police Department said.

On Feb. 28, 2015, Jameson was in pursuit of an armed suspect who had shot three people and was fleeing from officers, the release said. During the pursuit, the suspect crashed his vehicle, and upon exiting his white Chevrolet Malibu, he fired at officers, the release said. Jameson returned fire killing the suspect, the release said. The three people shot by the suspect all died from their wounds, according to the release.

Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey praised Jameson’s actions during the pursuit and said, “The deputy did an exemplary job in a very stressful and dangerous situation,” the release stated.

Jameson is a member of Class 51 of the Arlington Police Academy, which is set to graduate in February of 2017, the release said. Jay Nixon, Governor of Missouri, bestowed the Medal of Valor to Jameson on Monday during a ceremony at the capitol.

The suspect Jameson shot, Cornelius J. Parker, 28, shot three of his roommates that night, according to reporting by the Columbia Daily Tribune. Deborah W. Koontz, 53, and her brother, Donald R. Wilson, 51, died on Feb. 28, while Koontz’s boyfriend, Willie J. Mays, 44, died on June 4 from wounds he suffered on Feb. 28, the Tribune reported.

Several inches of snow had fallen that night and Parker spun out at Highway 63 and Broadway as he tried to make a turn while fleeing the pursuit, the Tribune reported. Dash cam footage from Jameson’s patrol car, a 2013 Ford Explorer, shows Parker get out of the Malibu and Jameson is heard yelling, “Show me your arms now!” Parker ran and fired a couple of shots at Jameson and one of the bullets bounced off the ground and hit the undercarriage of the Explorer, the Tribune reported.

“That’s when he jumps out and I see him level off with a handgun and shoot at me,” Jameson told an investigator. “I don’t really know how I got out of the car. I really don’t. I don’t remember grabbing the rifle. I don’t remember putting it in park. I don’t even remember opening the door. I don’t remember taking” the rifle’s safety off. I remember putting rounds down range and when I did that [Parker] started to run to the west.”

According to the Tribune’s story, Jameson fired at Parker several more times before seeing him stumble and fall. The entire encounter lasted only eight seconds, the Tribune’s story said. Parker was pronounced dead later on Feb. 28 at a local hospital, the Tribune reported.

This story was originally published November 29, 2016 at 8:48 PM with the headline "Arlington police recruit gets Medal of Valor from Missouri governor."