Seattle police officer awarded Carnegie Medal for Heroism

A Seattle police officer is being given one of our nation’s highest awards for heroism.

He’s getting the Carnegie Medal for pulling a badly injured man off railroad tracks — a split second from a speeding train.

Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers Edward K. Grimmer and Shannon Brown put their lives at great risk to save a man who’d fallen 25 feet off the ledge of a bridge onto tracks.

With the train barreling toward them, they had less than three seconds to make a life-or-death decision. Officer Grimmer pulled the man away from the train by his hoodie, a blink before the train roared by just two feet away.

“The worst case scenario was that he was gonna fall, then somehow the worst case scenario became that he was gonna fall and get his by a train,” said the officers.

The rescued man already had broken both arms and a leg, with facial and spinal fractures from the fall, but he is alive today because of those brave officers.

Officer Grimmer will now receive the Carnegie Medal for braving extreme danger while saving the life of another person. He is among 17 people recognized by the Carnegie Hero Fund.

In addition to this award, the Seattle Police Foundation and SPD awarded Officer Grimmer with the Medal of Honor, the highest award given to sworn and civilian employees.

These officers told us last year, it’s all in a day’s work.