Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt teared up after presenting Joey and Freddie Shelton with keys to Chapel Hill Monday night.

“What a special evening,” said Kleinschmidt, elected last fall and handing over his first set of golden keys on the council’s last night meeting before summer break. “I haven’t had an opportunity before to meet such amazing people. I’m actually excited about all this.”

The Shelton brothers rescued a young woman from abduction as she jogged through downtown Chapel Hill last month.

“This community in recent years has been scarred by acts of violence,” Kleinschmidt told the brothers. “You’ve helped us heal in ways that we didn’t know we needed to.”