Philadelphia officer who kept up chase after being shot is honored

His left shoulder hurt like hell, but Officer Kevin Gorman kept running, kept chasing after the punk who had just blasted him with a .45-caliber pistol.

It was dark and bitterly cold in the wee hours of Dec. 10, as Gorman lumbered near Westmoreland and Hope streets in North Philly, hoping to catch up to the gunman.

Then he felt something different, something strange, and stopped in his tracks.

"My adrenaline was really going, but I could feel something jingling near my elbow in my jacket," said Gorman, 33.

"It was the bullet. It went straight through. I put my hand on my shoulder and there was a ton of blood.

"Some other officers arrived by then, so I finally stopped running."

For the courage and bravery Gorman displayed in the line of duty on that night, he was presented yesterday with the 25th District's Officer of the Month award.

Capt. Frank Vanore, commander of the 25th District, which has headquarters on Whitaker Avenue near Erie, said Gorman was the first cop to receive the award in three years.

"We decided to bring it back," Vanore said, "and all of the officers wanted Gorman to be the first one to get it."

Gorman, a three-year veteran of the force, was presented with a plaque from the 25th District's advisory council and a citation from state Sen. Christine Tartaglione at an afternoon ceremony in the district's roll-call room.

"It was really nice," Gorman said of the award.

The married father of two said the gunshot wound left him with lingering pain, something he works through as he rehabs from the injury.

"I just want to get back on the streets and put this all behind me," he said, noting that he's unsure how long it'll be before he'll be able to don his police uniform again.

Nasuil Martinez, the 20-year-old thug who allegedly shot Gorman after fleeing from a car stop, got away the night of the shooting. He remained on the lam until Dec. 22, when police tracked him to a house in Summerdale.

Police have said Martinez allegedly shot two SWAT officers who tried to apprehend him, and then accidentally shot himself in the neck. He survived the wound and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at the Criminal Justice Center on March 8.

"I got lucky that night. That's how I sum it up," Gorman said. "Someone was just looking out for me."