JERSEY CITY – Of the myriad images and videos shared online during the Dec. 10 mass shooting in Jersey City, Sgt. Marjorie Jordan’s act of heroism is among the most enduring.
In a 17-second clip, a wounded officer – later identified as Raymond Sanchez – is sitting on the sidewalk taking cover behind a vehicle before Jordan runs over to guide him to safety.
“She played a vital role that day by putting herself in the line of fire to help bring that officer to safety,” said Phyllis Gordon, chairwoman of the Jersey City chapter of the NAACP. “We want to show how much we truly love to have her, as well as other officers, out there protecting us.”
Jordan was among the “community trailblazers” honored at the Jersey City NAACP’s 98th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet at The Chandelier in Bayonne on Sunday.
“God carries me all the time when I put on that uniform,” Jordan said at the dinner following a standing ovation. “Before I put the uniform shirt on, I pray. I leave the locker room and I ask God to protect me and every night when I’m out on the streets in the South District, he protects me.”
Gordon said Jordan was on the list of honorees even prior to the violent shooting spree that claimed four lives – with plans to commend her for her actions during a three-alarm fire on Neptune Avenue in November.
The NAACP chair, who also teaches pre-K, said she knew Jordan from the officer's time at School 22 as the safety officer.
School 22 was among the schools on lockdown during the shooting. Gordon said the actions of officers like Jordan, as well as Superintendent Franklin Walker, helped minimize chaos that day.
“Even though the city didn’t see this coming, these people helped prevent pandemonium,” said Gordon.
Jordan became an officer in 1999 and climbed the ranks to detective in 2006. getting assigned to the Juvenile Detective Bureau. She has served in Jersey City’s South District since October 2014.
The banquet also honored owner and CEO of NOWmed Walk-In Urgent Care, Tyeese Gaines, former New Jersey City University professor Will Guzman, Assistant Superintendent of Jersey City Public Schools Ellen Ruane, and founder and CEO of Pilgrim Management, Madison Pilgrim.
“I’m very humbled to be honored,” said Will Guzman, an activist and former professor of African studies at NJCU. “Often times when you're an activist, you’re toiling in the vineyards and it feels like you're alone. When these types of events come up, it gives the community an opportunity to recognize the work of so many people.”
Although Guzman currently teaches history at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, he said he kept up with the shooting. That afternoon, he said he was receiving phone calls and texts making him aware of the details.
“Obviously any loss of life is always tragic, particularly within the different communities along Martin Luther King Drive,” he said. “Often people see that particular thoroughfare as being full of blight and crime. However, it is filled with a lot of people who want to improve their community and build coalitions across racial and ethnic lines.”
Ellen Ruane, who has been involved in the Jersey City school district for 46 years, said she was “proud to share this honor with my colleagues.”
“They, like me, also demonstrate the passion that is needed to embrace our challenges, celebrate our successes, yet tirelessly continue the pursuit to change the lives of our students through an education,” Ruane added.