Click photo to enlarge
This photo obtained from the Twitter page of Sgt Kimberly
Munley shows Sgt. Munley at Freedom Fest in Frisco, Texas.
Officials initially said 34-year-old Munley ended the
shooting spree at Fort Hood when she shot and wounded
alleged shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan. (AP Photo/via Sgt.
Munley's Twitter page)
One of two police officers who confronted the alleged
Fort Hood killer says he shot Major Nidal Malik Hasan before
kicking the man's weapon away, handcuffing him and ending the
United States' worst killing spree on a military base.
Sgt. Mark Todd joined Sgt. Kimberly Munley, hailed as a hero
for her actions, in a firefight with Hasan that lasted less
than a minute. Todd was not wounded, but the exchange left
Munley injured and Hasan critically wounded. The rampage left
13 dead and 30 wounded.
Seconds after Todd arrived on the scene, he said he saw a
calm-looking Hasan, his gun drawn and his fingers pointing at
people outside the Soldier Readiness Processing Centre. Todd
said he then saw Hasan shooting at soldiers as they attempted
to flee.
"He was firing at people as they werfe trying to run and
hide," Todd told The Associated Press.
That's when Todd, a retired soldier who now works as a
civilian police officer at Fort Hood, said he shouted at
Hasan to stop.
"I told him stop and drop your weapons, I identified myself
as police and he turned and fired a couple of rounds at me. I
didn't hear him say a word ... he just turned and fired."
There has been confusion since Friday's rampage about whose
bullets actually brought Hasan down. At first, Munley's
supervisor said it was her shot to Hasan's torso that leveled
him, but Army officials would only say that an investigation
was under way.
Munley was down by the time he engaged Hasan, Todd said. He
wasn't sure if Munley had wounded the suspect, because "once
he started firing at me, I lost track of her."
Todd said he fired his Beretta at Hasan. Hasan flinched, Todd
said, then slid down against a telephone pole and fell on his
back. Todd says he then heard bystanders say "two more, two
more."
At first he thought the soldiers meant there were two more
suspects, but then he realised they were urging him to fire
two more rounds at Hasan, thinking he was still posing a
threat.
Todd approached the suspect and saw that he still had a
weapon in his hand. Todd kicked away the gun, which he said
had a laser-aiming device attached to it.
"He was breathing, his eyes were blinking. You could tell
that he was fading out. He didn't say anything. He was just
kind of blinking," said Todd.
Todd handcuffed Hasan and checked to see if he was still
alive.
"He had a good pulse," said Todd. He also cut off pieces of
Hasan's clothes so he could get first aid and noticed Hasan
had gunshot wounds on his side and back.
