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Grant awarded to Aurora police officer who was injured in Henry Pratt shooting

Nearly a year after being shot in the knee during the mass shooting at the Henry Pratt Co. warehouse, Aurora police officer John Cebulski continues to deal with lingering effects.

The 31-year police department veteran can't run. It's also "quite painful" for him to climb or kneel.

"It's just going to take time to get back to where I want to be," said Cebulski, who returned to light duty in June.

To help him financially, a nonprofit group on Sunday gave Cebulski a $5,000 grant. The group, Running 4 Heroes, was founded by Zechariah Cartledge, an 11-year-old Florida boy who runs one mile for every fallen first responder.

"It was an inspiration to meet somebody who put his life in jeopardy to save other people he never knew," Zechariah said after the grant award ceremony at the Aurora police station. "I love meeting heroes like him that protect this community every single day."

Zechariah started running a mile for every fallen first responder because he "wants to honor those who serve so we may live in a better world," officials said. Running 4 Heroes officially became a nonprofit in 2019.

This year, the group's mission was expanded to provide financial assistance to first responders injured in the line of duty. Cebulski was unanimously chosen by the group's board of directors to be the first recipient of an injured first responder grant.

"I don't know what to say," Cebulski said. "I'm very humbled by the experience."

Cebulski was among a group of officers who entered the Henry Pratt warehouse in Aurora during the Feb. 15, 2019, shooting, where a gunman who was being terminated from his job killed five employees.

Cebulski and officer Chris Weaver were searching the second floor of the warehouse when he spotted the shooter.

"Before I could even say 'Aurora police,' shots started coming," he recalled. "I got hit in the knee right away. I felt it."

After being shot, Cebulski and Weaver took cover in a nearby office, while the shooter was still firing at other responding officers. Weaver applied a tourniquet to Cebulski's wound and the pair monitored a hallway to ensure the shooter didn't escape.

Four other Aurora officers were wounded by the shooter when they chased him through the building, before he was killed.

After hearing what happened, Zechariah said, Cebulski was a clear choice for the grant.

"The second I saw his story I was like, 'I'm done. I want to do him,'" Zechariah said.

Cebulski said the money will help pay bills, including medical expenses for his family.

"I'd like to say I'm taking the family and going to Disney," he said. "No. We're paying bills."

Meanwhile, he doesn't know what he's going to do on the anniversary of the shooting.

"I'm not really sure how I'll feel until the day of," Cebulski said.

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