APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Two Appleton police officers who were involved in last year’s shooting at the Valley Transit Center have received national awards.
Sgt. Christopher Biese and Officer Paul Christensen were selected as recipients of the 2020 Top Cops award from the National Association of Police Organizations. Ten cases are selected for the awards each year.
Biese and Christensen were honored for their actions last May 15. What started as a call for help for an overdose case turned deadly. Investigators said after he was revived, Ruben Houston pulled out a gun and started shooting. He fatally shot Appleton firefighter Mitch Lundgaard before Biese and Christensen fatally shot him.
Christensen was also hit by gunfire, as was a bystander Houston used as a human shield.
Officers who receive Top Cops awards are nominated by fellow officers and reviewed by a committee of national law enforcement representatives.
