Naperville Officer Honored For Incident Involving Armed Man

NAPERVILLE, IL — A Naperville police officer has received special recognition for helping to talk down a suicidal man who pointed a pellet gun at police officers in January. Officer Jordan Koziel received the Hundred Club of DuPage's Award of Valor for his "courageous and compassionate" response to the Jan. 24 incident, Naperville Police Department said.

Koziel was among the officers who arrived at a strip mall late that night after receiving a call of a man with a gun. When they got to the scene, the man appeared to have a handgun to his head and was in tears and saying, "I can't live no more."

Dash cam footage depicts audio of Koziel talking to the man, saying encouraging things like "Everything is fine...things can always get better."

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The man, later identified as Zachary Kelley, then began advancing on officers with the gun pointed in their direction, authorities say. That's when Koziel fired his gun, disarming Kelley.

In its dedication to Koziel, the Hundred Club of DuPage commended the him for doing "everything he could to have this incident end peacefully without using force," despite ultimately firing his gun.

In the aftermath of the incident, it was ruled that Koziel was justified in firing at Kelley, who was later arrested and held in DuPage County Jail.