The Safeway worker praised by Bend Police for his heroics while trying to stop a gunman in the east-side Bend grocery store Sunday night was convicted by a military court of sex crimes involving a minor in October 1994.

Donald Ray Surrett Jr. died while trying to stop the gunman instead of running out of the store. Bend Police have emphasized Surrett’s bravery in statements after the shooting and said nothing about his conviction.

But the U.S. Army and the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office told Oregon Public Broadcasting that the 66-year-old Surrett pleaded guilty in a military court to two counts of carnal knowledge and two counts of indecent acts. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Sheila Miller, spokesperson for Bend Police, told The Bulletin she learned of Surrett’s criminal history Tuesday, one day after police had already given their

second update on their

investigation into the shooting.

Miller told The Bulletin on Thursday that police withheld the criminal history from the public because of the department’s violent crime policy, which includes limiting information disclosed to the public about a victim.

“His background has no bearing on the fact that he was a victim of a violent crime,” she said. “In this instance, he acted heroically when faced with great peril in attacking and attempting to disarm an active shooter in his place of work.”

Both Miller and Bend Mayor Pro-Tem Anthony Broadman said Surrett’s past may complicate people’s feeling toward his actions Sunday.

“Someone can have a criminal record and have done things that are deeply disturbing and still take heroic action,” Broadman told The Bulletin on Thursday.

After reviewing store video of the incident, Bend Police noted Surrett’s actions in a Tuesday press release.

“Video surveillance shows that upon hearing gunshots in the Safeway, victim Donald Surrett Jr., had ample time to flee the scene but instead moved a produce cart into position to hide from the attacker,” the release stated.

“When the suspect approached, Surrett waited for the suspect to look away, then attacked the suspect with a produce knife he kept on his hip. The suspect shot and killed Surrett, then ended his own life as officers entered the building.”