Fla. deputy gets top valor award

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Orlando Sentinel

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Deputy Jennifer Fulford-Salvano received the highest civilian award for valor last week from Vice President Dick Cheney.

She was given the national Public Safety Officer Medal of Honor on Thursday for a May 5, 2004, shootout in Pine Hills, where she was wounded 10 times by armed home invaders, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Fulford-Salvano returned fire, killing two of three men and helping to rescue two children from a house where the men intended to steal more than 300 pounds of marijuana, records show. Deputy Dwayne Martin, one of Fulford-Salvano's squad members, suffered a shoulder wound.

Fulford-Salvano, Martin and 14 other deputies involved in the shootout were honored earlier this year by Sheriff Kevin Beary. The National Sheriffs Association named Fulford-Salvano this year's Deputy of the Year.

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