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Medal of Valor recipients — Blair officers lauded for actions

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Blair County District Attorney’s Office Detective Randy Feathers speaks to Medal of Valor recipients Roaring Spring Police Cpl. Lance Morris (center) and Martinsburg Police Sgt. Justin Davis during a presentation in front of the Blair County Courthouse on Friday afternoon.

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Two Blair County police officers received the Medal of Valor on Friday during a presentation organized by the district attorney’s office.

The medals, considered the highest honor in public safety, went to Sgt. Justin L. Davis with the Martinsburg Police Department and Cpl. Lance Morris of the Roaring Spring Police Department.

Both officers were involved in on-the-job shootings where they fired their weapons at individuals who could have shot them.

“In both cases, the officers did what they had to do,” District Attorney Pete Weeks told the gathering of about 100-plus local law enforcement officers and county employees in front the Blair County Courthouse.

Weeks commended each officer while putting their medals around their necks. Then he stepped aside so each of the officers’ wives could pin commendation bars to her husband’s uniform.

“I really appreciate everyone being here,” Morris said after the ceremony where his fellow officers shook his hand and patted him on the back. “It’s nice to be acknowledged for the job we do.”

“This kind of recognition encourages us to serve as police officers and do the best job we can,” Davis said after the ceremony. “I appreciate all the backing from the community and my fellow officers.”

Randy Feathers, a former Altoona police officer and current detective in the district attorney’s office, said the officers deserve recognition, gratitude and support.

“For the people of Blair County, these two officers were the thin blue line between life and death,” Feathers said.

Davis’ incident occurred Feb. 26 when he began following a vehicle in Martinsburg which increased its speed as it left the borough on Route 164. The vehicle crashed near Fair Valley Road, where a woman helped the driver get out of the vehicle, then they started to run. After Davis used a Taser to stop the woman, he continued to pursue the alleged driver, Willis Truman Irvin Clark, who aimed a gun at the officer, prompting Davis to shoot Clark in the chest.

“I thought I was going to be shot,” Davis testified in April during a court hearing.

Clark, who was hospitalized after the incident, remains incarcerated in Blair County Prison.

A search of the vehicle produced dozens of small plastic bags, two scales, about 15 grams of heroin, suspected methamphetamine and $1,879 in a wallet.

Morris’ incident developed July 26, 2019, in Roaring Spring, outside of the True Value store on Woodbury Pike. Morris was dispatched there after several people called Blair County 911 about a man who was “acting very strange and not making sense.”

State police at Hollidaysburg, which investigated the incident, said Morris approached the man, who refused to comply with commands and aimed a fully-loaded firearm at the officer. Morris fired two shots in response, killing the man later identified as Todd Eric Messner, 49, of Saxton.

After the shooting, family members said Messner, a National Guard veteran with service in Kosovo and Iraq, was afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health issues.

Toxicology reports indicated Messner had methamphetamine in his blood at extremely high levels, which can cause erratic behavior and hallucinations.

Others recognizing Morris and Davis during the ceremony were Sheriff James Ott on behalf of the Blair County Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Foundation, Phil Devorris on behalf of Operation Our Town, state Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair, and state Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Hollidaysburg.

Weeks acknowledged that the timing of the ceremony may have seemed odd in light of recent anti-police protests since the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black American, during an arrest in Minneapolis where a white police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.

“We’ve had recent events in the country that should force all of us to evaluate how police interact with community members,” Weeks said. “I believe after the incident in Minnesota, all of us, on both sides, have been willing to do that.”

The district attorney also suggested that now is a good time for this kind of ceremony.

“Maybe this is the best time to be doing this,” Weeks said. “Because I think we need to stand up and say we support good law enforcement, community relations, and we support accountability by good law enforcement and the community itself.”

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.

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