HAMPTON — Fallen Greenland Police Chief Michael Maloney was honored Wednesday night for his heroic actions on the night he was gunned down and four other officers were wounded.

The New England Association of Chiefs of Police awarded a posthumous Medal of Valor to the slain chief who was killed April 12 by gunman Cullen Mutrie outside the accused drug dealer's Greenland home.

Maloney's father, John, accepted the medal, which is presented each year to an officer or more than one officer involved in the same incident who distinguish themselves by extraordinary heroism.

Maloney, 48, was fatally shot after members of the Attorney General's Drug Task Force showed up to serve a search warrant at Mutrie's residence as part of a drug investigation. Mutrie opened fired on the officers. Maloney was shot after he pulled one of the wounded officers to safety and returned to try to save others.

Maloney was killed just days before he was set to retire from the Greenland force.

“This is a very high honor. We felt that Chief Maloney, hands down, deserved the award this year. The chief's association has been doing this for a long, long time and we feel it's important to recognize people who put their lives on the line and do something heroic,” said Lincoln Police Chief Theodore Smith, a vice president with the association.

Maloney was chosen by a committee of association members from the six New England states.

The medal was presented during the association's 87th annual conference held at the Ashworth by the Sea hotel in Hampton. Maloney's wife was also in attendance, but neither she nor his father spoke at the ceremony.

Other officers who responded to the shooting and rescued the wounded men have also received medals for their actions that night.