The afternoon of Saturday, March 18 at the Travel Center in St. Regis is still very fresh in the minds of those that were bystanders or first responders to a hostage situation and resulting shootout that left one person dead.

The investigation was immediately turned over to the Montana Department of Investigations and is still being processed. Fire departments, EMTs, ambulances and law enforcement from several agencies converged onto the scene and besides the death of the shooter, nobody else was physically harmed.

Emotionally, might be another story.

The Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association is the professional organization for sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, detention officers and other sworn law enforcement officers. MSPOA is rooted in tradition, ceremony and collegiality among law enforcement across the state.

Leo Dutton, Sheriff-Coroner for Lewis and Clark County and secretary-treasurer of the MSPOA, and LT Shawna Chenoweth with the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office, who also sits on the MSPOA board of directors, were in the Mineral County Commissioners Conference room Friday for a special award presentation.

“Only one award per category per year and the nominations come from all corners of Montana,” explained Sheriff Dutton.

Five of the six award categories are Detention Officer of the Year, Deputy of the Year, Distinguished Career Award, Purple Heart and Medal of Merit. A special committee scrutinizes the criteria and then selects who they feel is most deserving of the award.

At the podium, the two presenters read what heroic deeds had been done by a local resident of Mineral County who was receiving the sixth award category, which was the MSPOA Annual Distinguished Citizen of the Year award.

Andrew Cadman was in St. Regis on March 18.

From the nomination application that Sheriff Ryan Funke submitted, LT Chenoweth read, "Andy responded to the Travel Center as a citizen looking out for his community. When shots rang out, he jumped into action pulling citizens, customers and children away from the danger. He didn’t stop to think about his safety. He thought about the countless number of people that needed his assistance in finding safety."

Sheriff Funke expanded on his actions to the group of about 40 people.

“He (Andy) saw what was evolving and he wasn’t carrying so he decided to go home and return with a firearm just in case he needed to protect himself or anyone else. You know, being in law enforcement and you see a situation like that, you want to help out. You want to participate as much as you can so he showed back up to assist in any way that he could.”

Cadman retired from law enforcement in Pennsylvania in 2006 so this was not the case of a good-intentioned, but untrained citizen with a firearm wanting to get in on the action. As a police officer in the Lancaster County area, he had filled the position of firearms instructor, field training officer and accident reconstructionist.

He had an unwavering commitment to being a certified DARE Officer teaching hundreds of children in Pennsylvania the dangers of drugs, alcohol and violence. As involved as he was in his church, community and career, he moved west and lives in St. Regis and works for the city of Superior.

“It is an honor and a privilege to stand before all of you here today. The Lord had a plan for me on March 18. This credit should go to Him and not me,” Cadman said in an emotional voice. “This is not about me. This is for all of the first responders that day. They should be up here. It’s about everybody. It was a team effort by everyone.”

He remained humble while neighbors, church members, and friends shared what he had done for them and one referred to Cadman as a Godsend. A woman stood in the back who did not want to be identified said with tears in her eyes that she and her two small children may not be here today if Cadman had not helped all three of them when the shots started.