A courageous female military officer has been hailed as a hero after she confronted an Iraq war vet at Fort Hood who had just killed three colleagues and wounded 16 others in a deranged shooting spree.
The officer, who has not yet been identified, put her life on the line when she stood just seven yards from the troubled vet, identified as by officials as Ivan Lopez, to prevent more casualties,
NBC News reported.
"What she did was heroic," said Fort Hood's commanding officer, Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, at the base in Killeen, Texas. "She did her job and she did exactly what we'd expect from U.S. Army military police.
"He was approaching her at about 20 feet. He put his hands up, then reached under his jacket, pulled out the [gun] and she pulled out her weapon and then she engaged, and he then put the weapon to his head."
Lopez, who was being treated for depression and anxiety and was on several medications, took his own life.
A
female military officer was also involved in the Nov. 5, 2009, shooting spree at Fort Hood as she tried to stop Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan from continuing to kill soldiers at the base. Hasan killed 13 people and injured more than 30 in the deadliest attack in history on an American military base.
Base civilian police Sgt. Kimberly Munley exchanged shots with Hasan outside the building where he began his deadly spree. She took wounds to her hand, her thigh, and her knee, which knocked her to the ground. She has recovered, but has needed knee replacement surgery and cannot run, according to The New York Times.
Another civilian police sergeant, Mark Todd, arrived separately. He shouted at Hasan to surrender, but Hasan began firing at him. Todd shot him several times, and Hasan fell unconscious to the ground. The shots paralyzed him from the chest down.
Munley and Todd were later awarded the Secretary of the Army Award for Valor for their courage in stopping Hasan that day.
Hassan, an American-born Muslim, was sentenced to death last year for that attack. He said that he went on his shooting rampage to protect Islamic insurgents abroad from American aggression.
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