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Rep. Brady honors 6 Normal police officers

NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) — Six police officers in Normal were honored Thursday for their actions in two separate incidents within the last year.

State Rep. Dan Brady (R-Normal) appeared at the Normal Police Department Thursday morning with awards in hand for six officers.

Officers Evan Easter, Shane Bachman, Corey Philips, Kyley Hepler and Jon McCauley were recognized by Brady and the Illinois General Assembly for putting themselves in the line of danger during a shooting call in August of 2021.

That shooting was at the Landings Estates, a trailer park in North Normal. That afternoon five people were shot, two of them died at the hands of an active shooter.

Officer Melanie Crays was also recognized for her life-saving work on a call in December of 2021. Crays responded to a motel for an armed and suicidal person. Crays spoke with the man for an hour, got him to surrender and stopped him from taking his own life.

Normal Police Chief Steve Petrilli said all these instances could have been much worse had it not been for officers’ professionalism.

“They do train for these situations and it’s that culmination of being prepared, being trained, and being able to use those skillsets when the situation warrants, that’s the measure of a good officer,” Petrilli said.

Evan Easter responded to the Landings Estates shooting in August. He said officers can’t pick and choose what calls they go on, it’s all a part of the job.

“It’s nice to be rewarded for doing difficult things, it definitely wasn’t something I haven’t been a part of my entire career for almost 19 years. At the end of the day, it makes you proud; I’m proud of myself and I am proud of my colleagues,” Easter said.

All six officers were recognized by the town this past March.