Wounded Sikh Temple Officer Recounts Shooting

The first shot hit him in the face, left side of his jaw, the 9mm bullet moving down, ripping through his larynx, bouncing off his spinal column and lodging in his right neck.

He remembered his training—"in a high-risk incident I will survive." And he moved, even as 11 more bullets pierced his arms, hands, legs and the back of his head, even as three more bullets struck his protective vest, even as the gunman kept coming, firing at close range.

When bullets, blood and terror came to the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin on that Sunday morning, Aug. 5, Oak Creek Police Lt. Brian Murphy would not give in.

In the middle of a gun battle that raged for about two minutes, he found himself wedged beneath a car as the gunman reloaded. And he thought to himself: "I'm not going out like this. I'm not going out in a parking lot."

Read the full Journal Sentinel story.