An officer’s Kevlar helmet saved his life after he was hit in the head by one of the gunman’s bullets during a shooting rampage at Pulse nightclub.
But Michael Napolitano's photo that was released Monday evening shows the damage the terrorist's bullet did to his head.
Orlando police SWAT Team Capt. Mark Canty told WFTV Monday that Napolitano and the others who stormed the gunman are OK.
Pulse Nightclub Shooting:
Posted by Orlando Police Department on Sunday, June 12, 2016
Eleven OPD Officers were engaged in a volley of gunfire that killed shooter, now identified...
They never cowered, not even from possible explosives.
“After we heard about the bomb, typically the response is to back away. But since we knew there were people in there, my guys stayed right there. I probably couldn't have pried them away from the door because they knew that those people's lives were in danger,” Canty said.
They stormed the building three hours after the massacre started, but a lot of people were rescued in between.
An off-duty officer and two others had opened fire, forcing gunman Omar Mateen to retreat to a bathroom where he took hostages.
While he was surrounded, some officers were able to rescue some people, and some were wounded and bleeding.
Canty said there was a turning point when Orlando Police Chief John Mina made the call that they had to force their way in to rescue more people.
“He did say he had a vest and he did talk about putting vests on the hostages,” said Canty.
Mina said they used explosives to create an escape hatch.
“We had to use a Bearcat; broke a hole through the wall, a 3-foot hole. People came running out, and then the gunman came out and we returned fire and killed him,” said Mina.
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
