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Nathan Smith

Wildlife Officer

Department of Fish and Wildlife

7/2/2019

Special Act Award (Gold)

Nathan Smith
On the morning of July 2, 2019, Wildlife Officer Nathan Smith and his K-9 partner, Gaston, were on patrol in the Sierra National Forest when a call went out over the radio that gunshots had been fired and a Fresno County Deputy Sheriff was down. It just so happened that the location of the incident was not too far down the road from where Wildlife Officer Smith resides. Attempts to contact the deputy via radio were unsuccessful. To complicate matters, a local resident had accompanied the deputy on a ride-a-long. The ride-a-long was with a young man with special needs and someone the deputy knew as a mentor and friend. The Fresno County Sheriff’s patrol helicopter responded to the scene and cautiously orbited the area. Although the helicopter located the deputy’s patrol truck, they were unable to determine the whereabouts of the deputy, his ride-a-long or the suspect. The suspect was still at large when Wildlife Officer Smith and others arrived on scene. The officers rallied at the bottom of the narrow, unimproved, dirt road that led up to where the deputy’s truck had been spotted. Wildlife Officer Smith and the other officers quickly formed a plan to conduct an emergency evacuation of the deputy and his ride-a-long. The other officers jumped into the bed of Wildlife Officer Smith’s truck and, with Wildlife Officer Smith driving, they started up the road towards the deputy’s truck. Because this was an ambush situation, Wildlife Officer Smith was forced to drive the patrol truck with his head below the dashboard, occasionally looking up to see where he was going. This was slow and methodical, but Wildlife Officer Smith had no choice and all of the officers were exposed to potential gunfire. As Wildlife Officer Smith cautiously navigated his way up the road, the team finally spotted the patrol truck. The deputy and his ride-a-long had been pinned down under the patrol truck since coming under fire. Under the constant threat of being ambushed, Wildlife Officer Smith provided rifle coverage while the other officers hastily evacuated the deputy and his ride-a-long from under the deputy’s truck. Wildlife Officer Smith then backed cautiously down the narrow road to relative safety. The deputy was airlifted to a local hospital in critical condition. He underwent surgery for his wounds and continues to recover. The ride-a-long was not injured in the incident. With no regard for his own safety, Wildlife Officer Smith went above and beyond the call of duty. The State of California takes great pride in presenting the Gold Medal of Valor to California Department of Fish and Wildlife Officer Nathan Smith.