'My heart goes out,' Ogden officer says of victims
"I just want to make sure that all of the victims and their families know how bad I feel — that was tragic," Hammond said in a telephone conversation with the Deseret Morning News. "My heart goes out to all of them.
"They're the true victims here," he added. "There's nothing I can ever say or do to make them feel better. I just want them to know that I'm thinking about all their friends and families."
Five people died and four were severely injured before an off-duty Hammond, 33, was able to fire his Kimber .45-caliber handgun at 18-year-old gunman Sulejman Talovic. That slowed down Talovic until Salt Lake City police officers arrived minutes later. Talovic was killed in a final exchange of gunfire.
No one will ever know how many more people Talovic might have killed had it not been for Hammond, whose pregnant wife, Sarita, called 911 while he rushed toward a spray of flying bullets and bloodletting. A dinner out together would have to wait for another day.
On Monday morning Hammond woke up as a humble, hard-working husband, living in a house in Weber County and counting the weeks until his wife Sarita gives birth in June.
But by Tuesday, still a matter of hours after the shooting, Hammond had to face the lights, camera flashes and barrage of questions from hungry media eager to tell his story.
"I've never done anything like that before," Hammond said. "I've never talked to the media. I'm not in this line of work for publicity — that's not me, that's not my character."
In the course of a day, Hammond was catapulted to hero status, cast in the national spotlight as a man who put his sense of duty and concern for the safety of others first.
Hammond said that if he hadn't acted on his morals, "That would have ruined me as a person. I am thankful that I was there and that I could react the way I did."
Hammond is used to getting up early for work, but on Wednesday he and Sarita rose with the sun for an interview with "Today Show" host Matt Lauer. "It went pretty good," Hammond said.
That same day, after multiple interviews, appearances and phone calls, a sleep-deprived Hammond finally "crashed," taking naps when he could get them.
The pats on the back, hugs and adulation from co-workers has meant a lot to Hammond, who as part of protocol during a shooting investigation is on paid administrative leave. He's not sure when he'll be back at work.
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