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St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell honored five police officers Tuesday who helped save the lives of three people last summer.

Axtell presented the officers with a “Life Saving Award” at a ceremony Tuesday afternoon.

Officer Matthew Jones, an eight-year veteran of the force, was honored for saving the life of a man who was shot in the chest last August.

On Aug. 6, 2018, Jones responded to the 700 block of Portland Avenue on a report of an aggravated assault. He used a t-shirt to apply pressure to the victim’s wound until paramedics arrived.

Officers Alexander Graham and Peng Lee, both multiple recipients of the award, assisted a man who had been in the leg while sitting in his car late one afternoon last June.

Lee was the first to arrive at the scene of the shooting on June 19, 2018. He helped the victim’s passenger, who had fainted, and began to apply pressure to the victim’s leg. When Graham arrived, he applied a fresh tourniquet to the victim’s leg. The officers tended to the victim until paramedics arrived.


“A lot of it that day was part of my training that St. Paul police gave me, and I think that it helped me,” Lee said.

Lee and Graham have been with the department for eight and two years, respectively.

Officers Charles Lemon and Michael Kempe were honored for bringing a woman who attempted suicide back to life during an incident on June 12, 2018.

“I truly believe that had anyone else been called to this address, they would have acted in the same way,” Kempe said.

Lemon is a six-year veteran of the force and Kempe is a two-year veteran.

“That’s what they do day in and day out,” Axtell said of the five award recipients. “They bring calm and safety to chaotic situations.”