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Hillsborough Deputies Honored For Stopping Gunman

Tribune file photo by JASON BEHNKEN (2008)

Deputies placed orange cones to mark evidence after a shootout involving a man and deputies on June 7.

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 9, 2008

Updated: 09/09/2008 05:13 pm

TAMPA - The three Hillsborough County deputies who ended a gunman's rampage in northwest Tampa in June said they hope today serves as closure.

They were recognized this afternoon at an awards ceremony.

Deputy Malachi McCoy received the Medal of Honor, the highest award bestowed by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies Ray Wilson and Arturo "Art" Lence received the Silver Cross.

On June 7, Jorge Orlando Bello Garcia, a former truck driver who had separated from his wife, drove to the Carrollwood rental home where the couple had lived and shot her, a family friend and a Hillsborough County fire captain, authorities say.

All three died.

When deputies stopped Bello in his pickup minutes later, he shot Lence and Wilson. Bello, also known as George Bello, was trying to wrest Wilson's firearm from him when McCoy ran up and shot him in the head, according to the sheriff's office.

Lence remains out on medical leave; Wilson has gone back to work.

Wilson said the gunfight is something he doesn't want to keep in his mind, yet he thinks about it nearly every day. He said he's trying to move on.

He only remembers bits and pieces of the attack. What he does remember has caused him to look at life differently and enjoy the little things more.

Wilson, who has been with the agency since December 1981, said he thanks God that he and the other deputies are still alive.

"I never even heard the gunshot," Wilson said of the bullet that struck Bello. "He went limp on top of me, and I felt warm blood all over me."

Wilson said he doesn't know McCoy that well but that McCoy is "my new best friend for sure. He saved my life."

Lence, who joined the agency in April 1991, said one of Bello's bullets went through his bladder and shattered his tailbone.

He said the deputies did what they had to do and that his injuries were a small price to pay for the result – putting an end to a gunman's rampage.

"It's our job," Lence said. "It's what we have to do. It's what we get paid to do. … It's what we do every day."

Lence was involved in a similar shootout in August 2007 when a 46-year-old man fired a shotgun at deputies in Citrus Park. The gunman in that incident also died.

McCoy, 29, has been with the sheriff's office about eight years. He said Lence, Wilson and Deputy Melvin Jones – another deputy who helped fight the gunman – are warriors who didn't hesitate the day of Bello's attack.

McCoy said the rampage taught him a valuable lesson.

"It reminds you not to become complacent," he said. "Something like this, it could happen at any time."

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

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