BOSTON – Friday, September 11, 2015 – Today, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security presented the fourteenth annual Madeline Amy Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery to Worcester resident Albeiro Gomez. This award is presented to a Massachusetts resident whose brave actions over the past year best exemplify the selfless spirit of Madeline Amy Sweeney, a hero of 9/11 who risked her personal safety to save others. Albeiro Gomez is a livery driver who last year thwarted the kidnapping of a mother and her daughter by an armed suspect.
“Albeiro Gomez acted quickly and without regard for his own safety to save the life of a mother and her baby who were in grave danger,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Fourteen years after one of the darkest days in our nation’s history, it is inspiring to see that Madeline Sweeney’s spirit and legacy live on in the actions of Albeiro and countless other heroes around the Commonwealth and our country.”
On the afternoon of July 20, 2014, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Joseph Hilton was told to be on the lookout for a white Lincoln Town Car with an armed subject wanted for a home invasion and kidnapping of a woman and her 11-month-old baby. The suspect had hired a livery driver, Albeiro Gomez, to take him and his captives to Springfield. Trooper Hilton spotted the vehicle traveling westbound on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Ludlow and broadcast the information over police radio. Additional troopers then converged on the Lincoln and the vehicle pulled over.
Trooper Hilton ordered the suspect to exit the vehicle. Gomez, who had not been aware of the kidnapping, turned around and saw the suspect holding a handgun. Without regard for his own safety, he lunged over the seat and grabbed for the suspect’s gun. State troopers then converged on the suspect at which time the kidnap victim fled the vehicle with her baby in her arms. Trooper Hilton twisted the gun out of the suspect’s hands and pulled him from the vehicle. During the altercation Trooper Thomas Clardy received a blow to the face from the suspect. At the end of the struggle, the suspect was arrested and a .22 caliber handgun was seized. Both mother and child were unharmed during the incident.
The Madeline Amy Sweeney Award:
For 14 years, Madeline Amy Sweeney was an American Airlines flight attendant. She lived in Acton, Massachusetts with her husband, Michael Sweeney, and their two small children. On September 11, 2001, she was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, the first of two aircraft hijacked by terrorists and flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Before the plane hit the tower, Sweeney contacted the airline’s ground services crew to convey critical information about the hijackers and their actions on the plane that morning. It is for her heroism and the victims of September 11, 2001, that this award was created.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Felix Browne
Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security
(617) 727-7775
