(WTNH) – Bristol Police Officer Alec Iurato, who shot and killed a suspect that ambushed and killed two other officers in 2022, received a national award on Tuesday.

Iurato was awarded the December 2022 Officer of the Month award from the National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Fund.

The award is given to one or several officers every month after being chosen by board members. Iurato was the only person given the award in December.

The award was given to Iurato during the Law Enforcement Officers Firearms Survival Summit. During the summit, Bristol Police Chief Brian Gould and Bristol Mayor Jeff Caggiano spoke about the shooting that killed Lieutenant Dustin DeMonte and Sergeant Alex Hamzy on October 12, 2022. During the shooting, Iurato was able to shoot and kill the gunman that killed his fellow officers.

While Iurato did not speak about the incident during the summit, he did say a few words, which is the first time he has spoken publicly since the shooting.

“I just wanted to thank the National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Fund for inviting us down here,” Iurato said. “It’s a great honor, but it’s not where we would like to be, but we believe that because of what happened, everybody needs to understand exactly what officers are going through throughout the nation, and any way that we can help, we’re going to do that. I just wanted to thank everybody from the memorial fund and anyone here.”

Iurato, who was seriously injured during the shooting, will also be inducted into the National Law Enforcement Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Ohio on March 30.