DPS investigators earn honors for preventing July 4th attack in Canyon - Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

The Public Safety Commission and DPS Col. Freeman F. Martin presented the honor on August 27, recognizing what DPS described as "swift, decisive actions that prevented a mass July 4th attack in Northwest Texas." The investigation led to the arrest of Kevin Hunt, who is now 19 years old.

For people across the South Plains and Panhandle, the recognition puts a name and a face on work that typically happens out of public view. Canyon sits about 15 miles south of Amarillo, and a July 4th crowd there would have drawn families from across the region, the kind of holiday gathering that fills parking lots and park lawns from Lubbock to the New Mexico line.

DPS said the investigators' actions likely saved countless lives, meaning this was not a vague or speculative threat but one serious enough to warrant a state-level honor months after the fact.

A Unit Citation is one of the highest recognitions DPS awards to a group of officers, and this one went to an entire division rather than a single investigator.