BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — An Alabama man received a national award for his heroic actions to stop a shooter who opened fire at a church gathering in Vestavia Hills last summer.
James Musgrove, Jr., 79, was given the Carnegie Hero Medal after saving many lives in a shooting at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on June 16, 2022, where Bart Rainey, Sarah Yeager, and Jane Pounds were killed. According to sources, Musgrove subdued and restrained the shooter using a banquet chair.
“It seems fitting that Jim has received this incredible recognition on the same day that ground has been broken on a permanent memorial remembering the lives lost on June 16th and those who survived,” a statement from St. Stephen’s read.
The medal is given to recipients who faced “extreme danger while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.” Musgrove is among 15 people who were given the award this year.
The church is currently building a memorial to the victims of the shooting that will be completed by June 16, the one-year anniversary of the tragedy.