Woburn officer named 'top cop' by president Obama

WASHINGTON (WHDH) -- A Woburn officer was named one of the country's top cops by president Obama on Saturday.

Officer Mark Gibbons earned the honor for his role in a shootout during an armed robbery last September that left a fellow officer injured.

In an exclusive interview with 7News last week Gibbons described the September day when he responded to a robbery at Musto's Jewelry.

"I knew - I knew there was gonna be trouble. I knew within seconds that one of us could be dead,” Gibbons said in that interview.

The shootout with a gunman injured Officer Robert Dinapoli. When the suspected gunman took off, officer gibbons chased him down. It's that work that landed him in the white house rose garden.

"When you put on that badge, you assume a special responsibility, and every time you put it on, you never know if this day will be the day you spent your entire career training for, the day when just doing your job and being a hero are exactly the same thing," President Obama said.

Officer Gibbons says he just did what he had to do.

"Like I said, I don't consider myself a hero. Lucky to be alive -- things could have been different. Obviously I’m glad they weren't,” Gibbons said.

"Some of them will tell you they don't deserve to be called heroes,” the president said at Saturday’s ceremony. “They're entitled to their opinion. I disagree with them. I think they are."

A total of 34 officers from across the country were honored by the president, including 15 Detroit officers who confronted a gunman who opened fire in a police station.