ORLANDO, Fla. — Michael Napolitano was one of numerous Orlando police officers who got into a fire fight with Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen when they breached the club to save victims trapped inside.
Had it not been for the Kevlar helmet on his head, though, Napolitano may have become a casualty himself.
Mateen entered Pulse nightclub in Orlando Sunday around 2 a.m. and started shooting, killing 49 people and wounding 53.
The incident ended up being the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
Napolitano was a member of the team that took on Mateen as they broke through the wall of the club.
During the exchange of gunfire, a single bullet cracked off his helmet, leaving it seriously damaged, but Napolitano with only minor injuries.
The Orlando Police Department released a photo of Napolitano Monday showing the injury to the officer’s head.
Orlando police SWAT Team Capt. Mark Canty told Channel 9 Monday that Napolitano and the others who stormed the gunman are OK.
They never cowered, not even from possible explosives, he said.
“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,” he said. “I probably couldn't have pried them away from the door because they knew that those people's lives were in danger.”
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 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,” Canty said.
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,” Mina said.
Cox Media Group
