Virginia State Police Trooper Andrew C.S. Goss has received the highest awards state police can bestow to a trooper and an officer in Virginia.

Goss, who is also Farmville’s fire chief, received the Superintendent’s Award of Honor and the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police Award of Valor during a recent presentation for his efforts in leading a tactical (TAC) team to save a child’s life last December in Campbell County.

As assistant TAC team leader, Goss led officers into a home during a 15-hour hostage standoff involving a 24-year-old man who took his 3-year-old son hostage at gunpoint inside a locked bedroom of a doublewide trailer, according to a press release.

“Overnight, the male subject had already fired at the sheriff’s office SWAT team positioned inside the trailer,” the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police said in a press release.

The child ended up being safely rescued while the man took his own life.

Goss has been on the TAC team since 2009 and became assistant team leader in 2014. He’s been a state trooper for 10 years.

“The excitement of the job and the working environment originally attracted me to law enforcement,” Goss said. “Like anything long term, my reasons for staying in the field have changed and now it’s more of a calling to help others and a willingness to serve my community and try to make it a better place.”

During the incident, Goss led other troopers into the residence. All of them left unharmed along with the boy. Goss said the standoff in Campbell County was exactly what the team trains for: to resolve a volatile situation and “do whatever we can to prevent loss of life.” 

“Sadly, we were not able to prevent (the suspect) from taking his own life. But, we were able to save his little boy,” Goss said. “This was one of the most, if not the most, stressful situations I have been in as a TAC Team leader because my teammates — fellow troopers and friends — were in serious danger of possibly losing their lives in order to save the child.”

Goss said the chance to make a real difference in the community and in Virginia is his favorite aspect of law enforcement.

“Most police officers that I know think somewhat like a star athlete does, meaning when the game is on the line and the pressure is on, they want the ball in their hands because they are confident that they can handle the situation,” Goss said. “In the case of law enforcement, and especially the TAC Team, we want the chance to take the violent criminal off the streets, we want to stop the robbery; arrest the rapist, murderer or abuser.”

Goss, who has been a firefighter with the Farmville Volunteer Fire Department since 2007, has been the department’s chief since 2013.

“(That) is also an extremely rewarding department to be a part of,” he said. “The area relies solely on volunteers to answer the calls for service and I’m proud to help contribute to the safety of Farmville and surrounding counties.”

Goss said he works “with some of the best people in the business around this area … (we) try and be of assistance and make our area a safer place to live, work and visit.”