Aggressive action by police woman stopped the killing at Fort Hood

Washington Post:

Sgt. Kimberly Munley, a civilian police officer on this Army post, was taking her vehicle to be serviced Thursday when the killing began.

...

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, shouted "Allahu Akhbar!" -- "God is great" in Arabic -- and emptied as many as six magazines during the rampage, according to Lt. Gen. Robert Cone and other Army officials.

Police officers began racing toward the scene. Among them was Munley, 34 years old and trained in tactics developed in the wake of the Columbine massacre. She arrived at 1:27 p.m., about four minutes after the first 911 call, as Hasan was fleeing the building, according to official accounts.

Munley rounded a corner and fired twice at Hasan. He fired back and charged at her, according to the accounts. Munley dropped to the ground in a protective position and continued firing.

At some point, Hasan began to fumble with his gun. "He's reloading," someone screamed, according to an officer on the scene.

In the exchange, Munley was struck in both thighs and one wrist. Hasan was shot four times, including at least once in the torso.

...

By some accounts, other police officers might also have fired at Hasan. Army officials, however, said credit for stopping the gunman belonged primarily to Munley, who remained hospitalized Friday in stable condition.

...

"She walked up and engaged him," Cone said. "It was an amazing and an aggressive performance by this police officer."

...

The NY Times describes her action:

...

Sergeant Munley bolted from her car and shot at Major Hasan. He turned toward her and began to fire. She ran toward him, continuing to fire, and both she and the gunmen went down with several bullet wounds, Mr. Medley said.

...

Munley is described by the UK Times as being a mother of one.

...

Those who treated the police officer said that her first request after being taken to hospital was to call her colleagues and friends to let them know she was OK — and to find out about casualty numbers.

Her stepmother, Wanda Barbour, said Ms Munley was an oustanding police officer. “She’s concerned about all the people who’ve lost their lives,” she said. “We’re just real proud of her and so grateful and thankful to the Lord that she’s going to be okay.”

General Cone said that Ms Munley’s actions demonstated that an aggressive response to a mass-shooting can save lives. “She walked up and engaged him,” he said.

She was very brave and had the discipline to take effective action against a killer. I think she may want to get a pistol that shoots a heavier caliber bullet. Four hits should have taken him out.

I wish her a speedy recovery and lots of awards.

The Houston Chronicle reports she had recently finished an advanced fire arms course at Texas A&M that teaches the kind of response she used.