Heroes: Meet the four cops that jumped on a bomb

Anthony Manfredini. Jack Collins. Sean Gallagher. Drew Preston. While the name of the Fumblewear Bomber will undoubtedly achieve infamy in the days and months ahead, these four Port Authority police officers deserve recognition beyond any achieved by a wannabe terrorist. Manfredini saw the explosion take place and called his colleagues to secure the suspect, and then discovered that the bomber had a second device.

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They didn’t hesitate:

Manfredini was stationed just outside the corridor where the detonation occurred. He “saw the panic and commotion,” radioed for help and then entered the corridor with the three other officers, Nunziato said.

“They engaged the suspect, who was on the ground, they handcuffed him, they saw wires, cellphone. They made a split-second decision to actually get on top of him and restrain him, and [Manfredini] actually removed the device off of his person before he could further detonate it,” Nunziato said.

Nunziato praised the officers for their quick action. “It’s a split-second decision based on training. Training and having the moxie to get in there, to put your life on the line. … I’m extremely proud. They couldn’t have done it any better.”

He added: “Those four guys are heroes.”

That could have ended very differently for all five on the ground had the bomber been given the chance to try again — and for many others in the vicinity. Rather than back off and try to wait out the threat or shoot the perpetrator to end the threat, the four officers took the great personal risk to dismantle the bomb while keeping the terrorist alive for questioning.

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We’re going to hear the name Akayed Ullah many, many times until he gets sentenced and put into penitential oblivion for twenty or more years. Let’s remember the four men who made sure that we don’t also have to recall a longer list of Ullah’s victims too — Anthony Manfredini, Jack Collins, Sean Gallagher, and Drew Preston.

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