2 officers tell of shooting at Hood gunman

FORT HOOD, Texas, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Two civilian police officers said training and instinct took hold when they fired at the Fort Hood gunman last week.

"We get so attuned to training, and we're very fortunate that it becomes second nature and kind of reflexive for us to react," Sgt. Kimberly Munley told Oprah Winfrey Wednesday in a teleconference.

Munley, an expert in firearms and a member of the SWAT team for her civilian police force on the sprawling Texas Army base, has specialized training in responding to suspects firing guns. Winfrey's interviews with Munley and the other civilian police officer, Sgt. Mark Todd, aired Wednesday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Inside a base processing center where soldiers prepared to deploy, both officers said they shot at Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan during the rampage that killed 13 people and wounded dozens.

Todd told Winfrey when he first heard shots he thought it was soldiers training. He said he fired at Hasan, and then kicked away his weapon and helped handcuff him.

He said it was the first time in his 25-year career he has been forced to fire his weapon while on duty in law enforcement and, before that, the military.

"We're trained to shoot until there's no longer a threat," he said. "And once (Hasan) was laying down on his back, his weapon just fell into his hand and I'm like, 'OK, now's the time to rush him and secure him.'"

Munley, a 34-year-old mother of two, was shot in both thighs and a knuckle, and was in good condition Wednesday at Metroplex Adventist Hospital in Killeen, Texas. Todd was not injured.