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Patricia Stenger

Executive Secretary II

State Compensation Insurance Fund

10/5/1979

Special Act Award (Gold)

Gold Medal of Valor
On October 5, 1979, at 5 p.m., Patricia Stenger, an Executive Secretary II for the President of the State Compensation Insurance Fund in San Francisco, was in the President’s office when she heard a scream. She came out and saw a young man wearing military fatigues with a nylon stocking over his face, carrying a sawed off .30 caliber M-1 carbine. He also had a 410-gauge shotgun and a fragmentation grenade. The deranged man was pointing a gun at a female custodian he had ordered to lie down, when he approached Ms. Stenger and pointed his gun at her. He looked away for a moment and at that time Ms. Stenger guided the custodian into the office, slammed the door shut, and locked it. They stood away from the door because they expected a shot from the gun to rip through it. Ms. Stenger then called and alerted authorities that there was a man with a gun on the sixteenth floor and they were locked in the office. To prove that he meant business, the gunman sprayed Market Street with bursts of gunfire, ultimately firing 60 rounds down on the city from a window. The 22 year old sniper held a secretary hostage and kept police at bay for 23 hours; then finally, the police charged in the room and arrested him. Fortunately, no one was harmed.