Hero Metro Cops Awarded for Helping Save Chris Gray

Photo by Craig Malisow

Our heroes!

​Our favorite Metro cops -- the officers whose quick actions helped save Houston Press Music Editor Chris Gray after he suffered a heart attack last month -- were presented with awards this morning from Metro and the American Heart Association.

Officers John Zepeda and Leonard Wagner just happened to be at the downtown light-rail station where Gray had collapsed on his way in to work on October 28. After a Good Samaritan, who we still haven't been able to personally thank, dragged him off the tracks, Zepeda quickly administered CPR and called for assistance. That's when Wagner swooped in, and the duo took turns administering the life-saving procedure until Houston Fire Department EMTs got to the scene.

Wagner told reporters that it was nice to be honored, and he encouraged anyone who doesn't have CPR training to get it.

Zepeda, a member of Metro's canine squad who had just run a routine bomb search at the Ensemble light-rail station before Gray's collapse, said of the incident, "It's really a feeling you can't really describe." He said he looks forward to meeting Gray and plans on attending the Press's benefit for Gray and the Houston Blues Museum January 14.

Joining in the presentation was Amber Baker, senior VP of the American Heart Association, and Wagner's wife Lyn and son, Robert; and Zepeda's wife and son, Nina and Michael.

Lyn Wagner told us that the officers were as much grateful to Gray as he was to them, because it's not every day that officers get to help the community by saving a life. Although we're pretty sure that Gray is waaaay more grateful, we thought that was quite a kick-ass thing to say, and it just illustrates the officers' character. These dudes are aces in our book, and Houston is lucky to have 'em.