Lynn police officer recounts marathon bombings response, receives citation

LYNN – In a ceremony as low key as the person being honored, Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy presented Police Officer Brian Chisholm a citation Friday and thanked him for his bravery in response to the Boston Marathon bombings.”You saved many lives that day and the City of Lynn is proud of you and what you did,” Kennedy said.Chisholm was volunteering with the Boston Athletic Association on April 15, working the medical sweep at the finish line on Boylston Street.”I was an EMT, (assigned to) look for runners in distress and keeping the flow of runners moving,” said Chisholm.About 3 p.m. that fateful day he received a text informing him a friend was about to cross the finish line so he turned in that direction.”I was looking straight at the finish line, about 300 feet away, when the first bomb went off,” he said.Chisholm said BAA officials told the volunteers to hold their positions because they questioned if there was a second bomb.”Then the second bomb went off,” he said. “On that they were right.”He said he was also watching the smoke, checking the color trying to figure out if it was a “dirty” bomb.”All that went through our heads,” he said. “I knew it was an IED (improvised explosive device) right away. I was close enough and I knew it when it went off and I knew injuries would be massive.”Boston Police then called for help and he rushed in, he said. Chisholm said little about what he saw except that the initial scene was shocking, but he quickly focused and got to work.In the meantime, his daughter, Emily, was home from Salem State University doing homework when she got a text asking about her father.”We didn’t even have the marathon on,” she said.Emily Chisholm said it took nearly a half hour before she heard from her father, who managed to get a text out because there was no cell phone service.Police Chief Kevin Coppinger, who attended the ceremony, said Chisholm did much more than he said. A written commendation on the Police Department website states that Chisholm helped stabilize a seriously injured woman and get her to the medical tent. He then returned to the scene of the bombing and when he found it secured he went back to his post and helped “disoriented” runners.”In the immediate aftermath of what was found to be a terrorist attack, Officer Chisholm’s actions clearly demonstrate his devotion to duty and to his fellow man, and reflect great character and true heroism. His actions on April 15, 2013 are in keeping with the highest traditions of the Lynn Police Department,” reads his commendation.Capt. Tom Reddy, who along with Deputy Police Chief Leonard Desmarais and Chisolm’s parents Finely and Margaret Chisholm, attended the brief ceremony, said Chisholm’s low key take on his role at the bombings was not surprising. It is the same way he views his job, he said.Chisholm maintains all of the department’s computers and it is not unusual for him to take calls at all hours of the day and night at home and think nothing of it, Reddy said. The fact that Chisholm treated his actions at the bombing in the same laid back style, “impressed the hell out of us,” he said.Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].