AUGUSTA – Thomas Harrison of Mexico was presented the Maine State Police Colonel’s Award on Thursday for helping save the life of a 9-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself last June.

Harrison was among a group of people recognized for their heroic actions, bravery and meritorious service to the public and state. They included Randy Huntley, the Pownal man who found buried evidence that cracked open a double homicide case in Lewiston two years ago, and several troopers.

Harrison, wearing a gray River Valley Home Improvement shirt, sat in the second row of seats facing center stage in the sweltering and packed Florian Hall at the Maine Department of Public Safety complex.

Accompanying him were his fiancee of 2 years, Mary Ellen Bedell, his River Valley Home Improvement boss, Michael Mann, and Mann’s wife, Beverly, both of Mexico, and Harrison’s parents, Eugene and Sybil Harrison. His parents drove 306 miles from their home in Winthrop, N.Y., to attend the ceremony.

Awards presenter and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Lt. Thomas E. Kelly of Lewiston recognized Harrison first.

About 9 a.m. on June 19, Harrison was traveling along Swift River Road in Mexico when he saw badly injured 9-year-old Tyler Richard in the roadway, Kelly related.

Earlier that morning, Richard’s parents dropped him at the home of his grandparents, Crystal Radcliff and Charles Martin.

According to State Police Detective Walter Grzyb, Radcliff was away when Martin went to buy food, leaving the boy alone. Tyler Richard found Martin’s loaded .38-caliber Derringer under a sofa cushion and fired a round, hitting himself in the chest.

He ran down the driveway and flagged down Harrison.

Harrison said Thursday afternoon that he was on his way to a job site when Tyler Richard asked for help.

“I didn’t realize he’d been shot, but he was bleeding badly,” Harrison said. The boy climbed onto the passenger seat and off they went to the emergency room at Rumford Hospital.

On Thursday, Harrison was half surrounded by standing state troopers, many of whom were also there to be recognized.

“Thanks to Tom Harrison’s quick thinking, Tyler is expected to make a full recovery. Had Mr. Harrison not stopped or acted with such decisiveness, Tyler’s fate could have been much different,” Kelly said.

Kelly called Harrison to the stage where he was greeted by loud applause and State Police Col. Patrick Fleming gave Harrison the Maine State Police Colonel’s Award.

“I was floating,” Sybil Harrison said of seeing her oldest child recognized. “I’m very proud.”

Likewise, said Bedell and Eugene Harrison, who wiped tears from his eyes after watching his son return to his seat.

“This wasn’t something he wanted to come to. He’s not a public person, and he doesn’t want to have a lot of fuss made,” Bedell said.

Harrison said he has not heard from the boy’s parents.

Huntley also received the Colonel’s Award. Kelly noted how Huntley had found ground disturbed on property he cares for in Pownal. After checking with the landowner to ensure that it wasn’t a pet’s burial spot, Huntley dug through snow and dirt, found two items and contacted police.

“What he found was a wallet belonging to a victim of an unsolved double homicide in Lewiston two months prior, along with a bat that was the murder weapon. Thanks to Randy’s decision to get involved, Thomas Dyer and Gary Gauthier were arrested and convicted of the two murders,” Kelly said.

Dyer and Gauthier were convicted of beating James Vining, 43, and John Graffam, 30, both of Auburn, to death.

Huntley also received loud applause when he walked on stage to be recognized.

“Thomas Harrison and Randy Huntley (respectively) were key in saving a boy’s life and helping us solve a double murder. Citizens willing to get involved is the key to helping us,” Kelly added.