Fort Hood Shooter: Mark Todd, Black Police Sergeant, Actual Hero

Fort Hood officials seem to have a problem getting their facts straight. First we were told that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was dead, then we found out he was alive. Then we were told that wounded police Sgt. Kimberly Hunley had single-handedly stopped Hasan's rampage. That was false, too.

Turns out, according to eyewitness accounts and an interview on Thursday, Sgt. Mark Todd actually fired the shots that saved Munley and dropped Hasan. Munley and Todd arrived on the scene at the same time, and both charged toward the sound of gunfire. Then they split up, and Sgt. Todd came upon Hasan in front of the processing center:

Sgt. Todd said he then saw Sgt. Munley on the ground, wounded.

He shouted again at the gunman to drop his weapon.

"Once I came around the front of the building, I caught his attention again, started shouting commands and then he opened up a second time," Todd said. "And that's when I returned fire, neutralized him and secured him." Source: 'Second Officer Says He Brought Fort Hood Gunman Down' - NYTimes.com

According to Todd, the whole encounter lasted 45 seconds.

Sgt. Todd's account agrees with that of a witness who was at the processing center when the shooting occurred.

The witness, who asked not to be identified, said Hasan wheeled on Munley as she rounded the corner of a building and shot her. Then Hasan turned his back and started putting another magazine into his semiautomatic pistol.

Todd then rounded another corner of the building, found Hasan fumbling with his weapon and shot him, the witness said. Source: NYTimes.com

In my book, both officers are heroes for running toward imminent danger with the intention of ending a bloodbath, but facts count, and I hope that Todd receives all the praise and commendation he deserves.