An Anoka County deputy is being recognized for risking his own life to help a South Dakota state trooper.

The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association awarded Deputy Tanner Shipman as Officer of the Year during a ceremony on Saturday.

Deputy Shipman was on vacation in Sturgis, South Dakota, last August when he noticed a man pull a gun on a trooper.

This happened during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which draws an estimated 500,000 people to the area every year.

Shipman said he was outside a gas station with about 200 other bikers as the dangerous situation started to unfold.

“When the shots were going off, my first instinct was, ‘I’ve got to help. I’ve got to get in there,'” Shipman said. “The trooper was by himself and I thought, ‘If that was me, I would want some backup.'”

Shipman said he did not have a bulletproof vest or any gear on him at the time.

“I was off duty, out of state, on vacation,” Shipman said. “I spun around to my group and I said, ‘Somebody give me a gun.'”

He said he saw the suspect fire at the trooper and then jump into the trooper’s squad car and he worried about what could happen next, with a large crowd close by.

“If he was going to get mobile, my thought was that there’s going to be mass casualty, mass injury or both,” Shipman said.

The South Dakota attorney general later reported the suspect, 29-year-old Wyatt Fluty, was high on methamphetamine at the time. He was wanted for an armed robbery two days before, along with stealing a car and four guns.

Shipman did not know any of those details during those critical moments.

He said he simply wanted to help a fellow member of law enforcement who appeared to be in danger.

“I wanted to prevent another funeral and I was going to die trying,” Shipman said.           

Shipman’s wife, Kendra, watched the encounter from the parking lot across the street.

“I knew he was in a lot of danger,” Kenda Shipman said. “But he did the right thing in the moment and it mattered.”

Investigators later found 42 shell casings at the scene.

Fluty was shot but survived.

The South Dakota attorney general ruled the force used on Fluty was justified because he “placed the public and law enforcement in jeopardy.”

Shipman provided medical care to Fluty until other first responders arrived.

Anoka County Sheriff Brad Wise provided this statement: “Deputy Shipman’s 18-year career with the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office has countless stories of selfless actions and commitments to justice. It is not surprising that Deputy Shipman would instantly assist someone, even when it comes with great bodily risk, or even death. This well-deserved award from the MPPOA is the highest honor a member of law enforcement can receive, as it comes from law enforcement peers throughout Minnesota. Deputy Shipman is an inspiration to law enforcement, as well as all in our community.”

Shipman said he is still processing how dangerous the situation was and how it could have turned out differently.

“I went over all those ‘what-ifs’ and how I could have died in this whole thing. My dad said, ‘What if you didn’t do anything? How would you have felt?’ That would be a huge regret and would have eaten me alive,” Shipman said. “This year’s been a pretty tough year for line-of-duty deaths. I just hope it sheds some light and some hope on a profession that I’m not the only guy out there that would do something like this.”

Fluty pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder of law enforcement last month.

He faces up to 75 years in prison and will be sentenced in July.