GLENDALE, Ohio -- Glendale Patrol Officer Josh Hilling said he still doesn't want to talk about the day he shot a murder suspect on Interstate 75, but he's grateful for the community's support.
The village of Glendale honored Hilling and fellow officer Lynn McKee on Monday night for their actions that led to the arrest of Javier Pablo Aleman, a fugitive wanted in Baltimore County, Maryland.
Mayor Donald A. Lofty presented Hilling with the village's Medal of Honor, the highest award of the Glendale Police Department. McKee received the Medal of Valor.
"The restraint that both my guys showed, their professionalism they both showed, made me more proud than anything," Glendale Police Chief Dave Warman said.
Packed council meeting tonight. Two Glendale officers being honored tonight for their "heroic actions" @WCPO pic.twitter.com/kk2xcmZMbf
— Ashley Zilka (@ashleyzilka) May 2, 2016
Hilling had been a full-time officer just 12 weeks when he shot Aleman during a confrontation March 29.
The dramatic body cam footage reveals Aleman, 46, demanded to be shot multiple times and waved a large knife while staggering around I-75.
WATCH the body camera video below. (WARNING: This footage contains language and images some might find disturbing.)
After being stopped for walking on southbound I-75, Aleman grew confrontational when Hilling tried to pat him down, and Hilling shot Aleman once in the abdomen. The video shows Aleman refusing to comply with Hilling’s orders for several minutes before being dispatched with a Taser.
MORE: What led up to the confrontation
"He got a bad hombre off the street," Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil said last month. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said no charges would be filed against Hilling after his office completed its investigation.
"Body cameras, they will save our careers some day," Warman said Monday night. "It’s unbelievable, and I am getting a little emotional about it -- I apologize -- but I am so proud of council allowing me to have good body cameras that really showed everything that happened. It’s all transparent. It’s all right there."
At Monday night's meeting, the village also approved Tasers for its police force.
Hilling, 30, joined the Glendale Police Department as a part-time officer in 2011. He got a commendation from the village two years ago after he saw a gun in open view during a traffic stop in January 2014. He and other officers arrested the two men in the car and recovered packs of heroin intended for distribution. It later turned out the gun wasn't loaded.
He received a 4.5 on a 1-to-5 scale in his last performance review from Warman.
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WCPO.com's Greg Noble contributed to this report.
