Hero in Texas

A Texas traffic cop who thwarted an attack on a contest for cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed is hailed as a hero. The Sunday attack has been claimed by the Islamic State.

He’s a hero, the traffic cop who was wrapping up an off-duty security gig at a Garland community center when two gunmen rolled up in a black sedan.

He had his pistol and an unarmed partner. They had two assault rifles, extra ammo, body armor and the element of surprise.

But the Garland officer, whose name wasn’t released, managed to help stop Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi before they got close to the ballroom with about 200 people at a Sunday contest for cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.

“That’s superhuman right there,” said Kevin Lawrence, executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association, which represents most Garland police officers. “Think about the stress, the level of adrenaline pumping through your veins in a situation like that — one officer with a pistol against two guys who are armed to the gills with evil in their hearts.”

The traffic cop was unscathed. A Garland school district security officer, Bruce Joiner, 68, was with him in a car that initially blocked the two assailants.

The assailants jumped out and starting shooting. Joiner was hit in the ankle as he stood by the passenger side of the car. The officer, on the driver’s side, fired back. A SWAT team that had rushed there also fired at the men.

Garland police spokesman Joe Harn said many shots were exchanged and it is unclear who fired the lethal ones. “Any of the shots could’ve been fatal,” he said. “They did go down from (the traffic officer’s) shots. As the SWAT officers were arriving, there was still danger and they fired also.”

“Under the fire that he was put under, he did a very good job and probably saved lives,” Harn said of the traffic cop. He said the officer has been on the force for several years but wasn’t sure if he had been involved in a previous shooting.

Law officers and security experts said the shooting could have been much worse had it not been for the traffic officer’s swift actions plus months of security planning and a heavy police presence.

Garland police said they had planned for months for the event sponsored by the American Freedom Defense Initiative because of possible risks over its Mohammed cartoons, which Muslims consider offensive.

Harn said police monitored social media and had seen on-and-off chatter but had no specific threats.