The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department presented its highest honor, the Valor Award, to Corporal Keith Shibley on Wednesday, for his courageous efforts to evacuate and protect victims from a gunman at the Washington Navy Yard on Sept. 16, 2013.

Corporal Shibley, who serves as the Airports Authority Police Department representative on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, was among the first officers to respond to the Navy Yard for reports of gunfire. While the Navy Yard was still under attack, Corporal Shibley and his partner from the Metropolitan Police Department quickly began evacuating victims from the building who were injured, fleeing or hiding. Then, he returned to help search for the gunman.

“Corporal Shibley’s response to the tragic events at the Navy Yard is in keeping with the highest traditions of the Airports Authority Police Department,” said Airports Authority President and CEO Jack Potter. “He is a shining example of the quality and caliber of the men and women who selflessly and tirelessly serve the traveling public in the National Capital region. We are proud to present the Valor Award to Corporal Shibley and to be able to call him our colleague.”

Corporal Shibley, a nine-year veteran of the Airports Authority Police Department, was formally presented the Valor Award at a ceremony during the Airports Authority’s monthly board meeting. In attendance were his family and colleagues from both the Airports Authority Police Department and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

The Valor Award is presented to police officers who have distinguished themselves for bravery and heroism by knowingly putting their lives in great danger, while demonstrating extraordinary judgment in performing their duties and saving lives. 

Pictured from left to right are: Airports Authority Police Chief Stephen Holl, Corporal Keith Shibley and his family.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, established in 1987 by the governments of Virginia and the District of Columbia, manages and operates Ronald Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International airports, which together serve more than 40 million passengers a year. The Airports Authority also operates and maintains the Dulles Airport Access Road and the Dulles Toll Road and manages construction of the Silver Line project, a 23-mile extension of the Washington region’s Metrorail system into Loudoun County, Va. No tax dollars are used to operate the toll road, which is funded by toll revenues, or the airports, which are funded through aircraft landing fees, rents and revenues from concessions. The Silver Line construction is funded by a combination of toll-road revenues, airport contributions and federal, state and local government appropriations. The Airports Authority is led by a 17-member board of directors appointed by the governors of Virginia, Maryland, the mayor of Washington, D.C., and the president of the United States.