Kevin Glenn and Brian Wyatt are honored.
Kevin Glenn and Brian Wyatt, the pair of North Carolina state troopers involved in a chase and subsequent officer shooting nearly a year ago in Yancey County, were both honored with Badges of Excellence for Safety and Heroism during the annual North Carolina Department of Public Safety Badge of Excellence Ceremony held on Tuesday, Nov. 29 in Raleigh.
The Badge of Excellence award is the department’s highest honor and since 2015 has been bestowed on DPS employees who have made outstanding contributions to the department, state government and the people of North Carolina.
Recipients were nominated by their peers and selected by the DPS Badge of Excellence Committee, earning awards in the field of customer service, human relations, safety and heroism, innovation and efficiency, outstanding achievement and public service and volunteerism.
Glenn, a North Carolina state trooper assigned to Mitchell County, was shot in the face in Yancey County during a chase last December.
Wyatt stayed by his shift partner’s side and radioed for help. He waited next to him until emergency personnel arrived.
That chase started in Mitchell. Glenn was attempting to put out a tire deflation device on U.S. Highway 19E near Newdale Church Road when he was shot.
Glenn was airlifted to an area hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspect, 40-year-old Bobby Lee Byrd, Jr., died shortly after the incident, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said.
The suspect shot at officers multiple times and Yancey County deputies returned fire, hitting Byrd in the process.
The suspect crashed his car and was later pronounced dead at Blue Ridge Regional Hospital.
In addition to Kevin Glenn and Wyatt, officers Tyler Dellinger and Tom Glenn were also honored with Safety and Heroism Badges. The two were the first to arrive on the scene last January when a 2-year-old was shot in the leg in Mitchell County.
Their efforts saved the child’s life and provided critical early aid.