3:45pm | Four off-duty servicemen were honored by the Long Beach Police Department today for coming to the aid of an officer last night, likely saving his life.

Abner Marquez, a 20-year old Long Beach native and Private First Class in the U.S. Army Reserve, and three off-duty Marines were in the right place at the right time to help subdue a suspect who is currently hospitalized and will soon be formally charged with attempted murder of a police officer. The suspect has been identified as 19-year old Junior Antonio Fonseca and will be charged with the attempted murder of a police officer as well as charges stemming from the previous incident of threatening civilians.

Marquez was honored by Mayor Bob Foster and Chief of Police Jim McDonnell on Thursday afternoon, but the three Marines who also came to the sergeant’s aid were required to report to Camp Pendleton this morning and are scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan this Saturday. Marquez received the Chief’s Citation certificate in a press conference today.

“I don’t feel it’s something that’s courageous or whatnot, it’s something that we were trained to do, something that they tell us we should do, and something that we were more than willing to do,” said Marquez.

On Wednesday night, police were searching for the suspect after he had threatened several people with a butter knife at a local laundromat, but he could not be located once officers arrived on scene. The police were preparing to leave when the suspect appeared from between homes and attacked a sergeant, stabbing him three times in the head. The sergeant fired his weapon but it does not appear that the suspect was hit, detectives said today. Both men were struggling for the weapon.

“We just wanted to make sure that [Fonseca] didn’t get the better hand on the weapon,” Marquez said. “Our main deal was for the suspect not to get the weapon, that was the intended mission. We heard the gunshot so we didn’t want it to happen again, especially toward the officer or one of us.”

Marquez and his three friends came to the aid of the wounded sergeant, using their training to subdue the suspect until officers could take him into custody.

“The officer was bleeding pretty profusely,” explained Homicide Lieutenant Lloyd Cox. “Blood was squirting out of the side of his head.”

The sergeant was hospitalized but was released today and is recovering at home.