A decorated Boston Police officer has died, according to the department.

Police Officer Dennis O. Simmonds died yesterday after a medical emergency, according to a statement by the department. Simmonds collapsed at the Boston Police Academy in Hyde Park and was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he died, according to The Boston Globe.

Simmonds was recognized with the Boston Police Department’s Schroeder Brothers Memorial Medal for his actions during the April 19, 2013 Watertown shootout with the suspected Boston Marathon bombers, according to the department. He was injured in the gunfight when one of the suspects threw an explosive device at him, according to the Globe.


He was slated to receive a National Association of Police Organization Top Cop Award from President Obama on May 12, according to a Boston Police spokesperson.

The six-year veteran worked on the department’s Youth Violence Task Force. He was 28 years old.