CHELSEA, Alabama -- Shelby County Sheriff's Deputy David Morrow's actions during the February 2013 gunman situation at Chelsea Middle School have earned him the National Sheriffs' Association Medal of Valor.

Morrow received the award during a surprise pep rally at Chelsea Middle School last Friday attended by students, school staff and sheriff's personnel including Sheriff Chris Curry.

"This is a very, very big shock, but it's a great honor," Morrow, a school resource officer, was quoted as saying in a press release. "I wouldn't want to relive last year, but I'm thankful that you guys, the staff and students, were prepared enough to know what to do in a time of crisis."

Ryan Matthew Sims, 22, remains in jail on charges accusing him of holding five girls at gunpoint in the school around 3 p.m. on Feb. 12, 2013, when he went into a locker room and brandished a gun.

Morrow and Chelsea Middle School Principal William Harper negotiated with Sims and their actions resulted in peacefully disarming him to end the roughly 20-minute situation.

"The Medal of Valor is given for an act of outstanding personal bravery, intelligently performed, in the line of duty at imminent personal hazard of life," according to the National Sheriffs' Association.

Sims was a former Chelsea Middle student and at one time was a part-time summer employee of the school who lived near the institution. His next court hearing is May 5 as he undergoes a psychiatric examination.

Sims remains in the Shelby County Detention Center in Columbiana without bond on five counts of first-degree kidnapping and one charge of making terrorist threats.