Bakersfield parole agent awarded Medal of Valor for heroism after shots fired at local Walmart

Sep. 27—Bakersfield-based Parole Agent Luis Cardenas doesn't love the sound of gunfire in the morning.

But he runs toward it anyway when innocent lives may be at risk.

It was three days after Christmas 2020, and the 53-year-old husband and father was on the job, searching for a missing parolee near a busy shopping center in northeast Bakersfield.

"I'm waiting up on the hill, I'm standing outside my vehicle," Cardenas remembers, "and I hear two reports.

"Pop! Pop!"

As a military veteran and an experienced law enforcement officer, Cardenas knows the sound of gunfire. His assessment that he had heard a handgun would later prove to be correct.

As he looks down toward the sound of the gunfire, he sees people running in panic near the entrance to the East Hills Walmart. The possibility that he may be entering an active shooter scenario definitely crosses his mind.

"I know I need to respond," he says. "I get in my car and get on the radio.

"Shots fired. Scout five-five. Shots fired," Cardenas transmits, using his radio sign.

He lets dispatch know what's happening, then he heads toward the trouble.

"I'm approaching slowly, scanning, scanning, left-right-left," he recalls in an interview with The Californian. "I get closer and I see a guy with a revolver in his hand, a chrome revolver, a detective special, a little snub-nose."

On the radio again: "Scout five-five, I have an individual holding a firearm, white male, grey sweats. Stand by, I'm going to make contact."

All around, there is a cacophony of sound, screaming, yelling, the radio in the background. Cardenas doesn't know if there is one gunman or two. Or more.

"I stepped out, I drew on him, I told him to show me his hands.

"Put the gun down! Put the gun down! State police!"

"He gives me a, 'It's not my gun. Quit pointing your gun at me.'"

"I said, 'I don't care whose gun it is. Drop it now. I will shoot you. I do not want to shoot you. Put the gun down!'"

The man continues to argue.

"He's holding it," Cardenas remembers, of the chrome revolver. "It only takes a second to bring it up.

"That took a lot of restraint," he says.

Cardenas moves closer, his firearm trained on the man. Eventually the man puts the weapon down and steps away.

Soon bystanders are telling Cardenas that it was another man, dressed in tan pants, an army jacket with a vest, and long hair who fired into the air, threw the gun down and ran into the store.

They can't be sure the man who ran into the Walmart doesn't have another gun.

Cardenas pockets the revolver, tells the man who picked it up to "scat," updates dispatch with a new description of the alleged shooter, and heads into the Walmart, weapon in hand.

After a couple of dead ends he spots the long-haired man with the army jacket. The man appears to be holding something metallic close to his chest. Cardenas can't see the man's vest because the man had zipped up his jacket.

"In my military training, there are two vests, protective and explosive," he says.

As he moves closer, he orders the man to show him his hands.

"I need your hands now. Put your hands up. If I don't see your hands I will shoot you. Don't make me shoot you," Cardenas tells the suspect.

As he had done outside, the parole agent takes a couple of steps forward, closing in on the suspect.

"Now! I need your hands, now!" he yells.

"And that's when the guy put his other hand up and a Three Musketeers bar falls out. He was eating a candy bar."

Because he had unwrapped it, the shiny metallic interior was showing.

Agent Cardenas puts the man on the floor and radios to let dispatch know one suspect is in custody. He warns there could be others.

Within moments, officers with the Bakersfield Police Department are inside, clearing and evacuating the building.

Despite the fact that a gun was fired in a crowded commercial area, terrifying shoppers and requiring an armed police response, no injuries or deaths resulted from the incident.

BPD acknowledged the efforts of Agent Cardenas in responding to the incident and risking his life to prevent harm to others.

"Parole Agent Luis Cardenas is a heroic example of what law enforcement officers throughout our state do every day, consistently putting their lives at risk to serve their communities with selfless service," Bakersfield Police Chief Greg Terry said in a statement.

"We salute Agent Cardenas," Terry said, "and honor his bravery."

In a ceremony released Friday that was prerecorded remotely due to COVID-19 concerns, Cardenas was awarded the Medal of Valor for his actions that day by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The Medal of Valor is the department's highest award, earned by distinguishing oneself by exhibiting conspicuous bravery or heroism above and beyond the normal demands of the job.

Department employees who work in Wasco and Tehachapi were also among the 148 people honored Friday at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's 2021 Medal of Valor Ceremony.

"These employees' dedication to public service, their willingness to put themselves in harm's way to save others and the work they do to improve our institutions and our communities exemplify the best in CDCR," said Kathleen Allison, CDCR secretary.

Tony De Jesus, Cardenas' unit supervisor in Bakersfield, said Cardenas has a history of taking the initiative, especially in the area of public safety.

One of those times came when Cardenas had to use an emergency dose of Narcan nasal spray in an attempt to save the life of an addict who was dying from an opioid overdose.

"Another time he calls me and says, 'Hey, I'm going to need a new fire extinguisher for my vehicle.'

"I said, 'Why?'

"He says, 'Well, there was a vehicle fire on the side of the road and I went to assist.'"

It's that desire to protect and to serve, De Jesus said, that is so apparent with Cardenas.

On the day of the Walmart incident, De Jesus wanted to make sure his agent was not only safe physically, but OK emotionally following such an adrenaline-inducing experience.

"I was reflecting on this," he said of the incident. "And this is exactly what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to help out."

When things go bad, De Jesus said, "You put your own life out there on the line."

Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.

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