El Paso officers Amairani Giner and Mark Perez have gone from surviving a blistering gunfight on a quiet Upper Valley street to being officially honored in Washington, D.C., and back home at City Hall. This month, the two officers were celebrated for their roles in a June 1, 2025, confrontation that left a suspect dead, one officer wounded, and a community still watching body-camera footage and asking questions.
Officers Receive National Top Cops Awards
Giner and Perez were selected as 2026 Top Cops by the National Association of Police Organizations, a peer-nominated award that highlights officers whose actions went above and beyond routine duty. As listed by NAPO, the officers were honored during National Police Week events in May.
City Proclamation And Local Honors
The recognition did not stop at the national level. The El Paso City Council added a local spotlight by proclaiming May 26 as Officer Mark Perez and Officer Amairani Giner Day, placing the proclamation on its public agenda and formally saluting the pair during a council meeting. The item appears on the city’s official meeting agenda, as listed by the City of El Paso.
What Happened On June 1, 2025
According to a City of El Paso press release, the incident began as a family-violence call in the Upper Valley on June 1, 2025. Officers responded to a home in the 6400 block of Passo Via and approached the residence. The homeowner, identified as 35-year-old Salvador Valdiviezo, opened fire as officers neared. The exchange, which the department said lasted roughly 30 to 40 seconds, left Valdiviezo mortally wounded and one officer shot in the leg. Police officials said both officers returned fire and noted that the Texas Rangers and internal affairs were brought in to investigate. Local television coverage also followed the department’s June 30 release of body-camera footage from the shooting, as reported by KVIA.
Officers' Reaction
During coverage of the awards and the local ceremonies, Perez and Giner focused less on the spotlight and more on the fact that they survived. “I'm very grateful to go home at the end of that day,” Perez said. Giner told reporters she was “just grateful and appreciative that I'm even here, alive,” according to the El Paso Times. Colleagues and city officials used the ceremonies to underscore the officers’ training and their composure under fire.
Background And Service
Both officers were relatively new to the force at the time of the shootout. Each had about two years with the El Paso Police Department, a detail that added gravity to the recognition, the El Paso Times noted. During the ceremonies, city leaders also mentioned that Giner’s father serves in the U.S. Army and Perez’s father is an El Paso firefighter, underscoring the family ties to public service highlighted in the paper’s coverage.
Why The Honors Came Now
The timing was shaped partly by the national awards calendar and partly by local scheduling. NAPO held its 2026 Top Cops events in May in Washington, D.C., as part of National Police Week, while El Paso’s council followed with its proclamation later in the month. Per NAPO, an independent committee selects Top Cops honorees from nominations submitted by officers around the country. For El Paso, the local recognition offered a high-profile thank you even as official reviews of the shooting continue.
For Giner, Perez, and their families, the ceremonies carry a double weight: they serve as both a public commendation and a reminder of a day that nearly ended in tragedy. City officials have said the awards acknowledge bravery under fire while investigations into the June 1 confrontation remain underway and the body-camera footage continues to draw public attention.
