Clarksburg, W.Va. — Seven Deputy U.S. Marshals from West Virginia are being recognized for their efforts to arrest a fugitive drug dealer in Randolph County in February 2011.
A shootout at an Elkins home that day lead to the death of Deputy U.S. Marshal Derek Hotsinpiller, 24, from Bridgeport. Fugitive Charles Smith, who shot Hotsinpiller, was killed in return fire.
Hotsinpiller’s mother, Pamela Jo Bolyard-Hotsinpiller, accepted her son’s Congressional Badge of Bravery from U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller during a ceremony in Harrison County on Friday.
Those who were injured in the shootout, U.S. Deputy Marshal Alex Neville and U.S. Deputy Marshal Wesley “Fred” Frederick, were also each presented a Congressional Badge of Bravery, along with Philip Efaw, John Hare, Paul Hickman and Joseph Nichols.
The Congressional Badge of Bravery was created in 2008 to honor a select group of law enforcement officers who perform exceptional acts of bravery in the line of duty.
Up to now, only 59 individuals, including the seven West Virginians honored on Friday, have received a Congressional Badge of Bravery.