'Fearless' Fort Hood Police Officer Recovers

KILLEEN, Texas -- Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley is a hero. And lucky to be alive.

The diminutive officer was shot in both legs Thursday during her gunbattle with Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the man accused of killing 13 fellow soldiers during a shooting rampage at Fort Hood. One of the shots severed her femoral artery.

Dr. Kelly Matlock, an anesthesiologist at Metroplex Adventist Hospital, said Munley owes her life to the soldiers who tied tourniquets to her legs to stop the bleeding, long before she ended up in the emergency room.

"She would have died before she arrived without those tourniquets," she said. "She would have bled to death. They saved her life."

A hospital spokeswoman said Munley, 34, an Army veteran and mother of two daughters, was in stable condition Friday evening.

Munley's husband is stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., but was en route to Fort Hood.

Her neighbors in southwest Killeen said they were not surprised that she took on Hasan. An officer with the Fort Hood Police Department and member of its SWAT team, she had been directing traffic nearby and responded to the shooting when she heard gunfire. About three minutes after Hasan began his attack, she dropped him with four shots.

"She was at the right place at the right time and knew what to do," neighbor Dawn Beato said.

Munley is considered a guardian angel in the new subdivision of one- and two-story brick homes. Several months ago, two men appeared to be breaking into Munley's house, said Erin Houston, who lives two doors down.Munley's response?

She said: "I'm armed, and if you come in, I'm going to shoot you," according to Houston.

After the men left, Munley came around to other houses in the neighborhood, checking on everyone and informing them that she was available if they needed help.

"Most of us live alone because our husbands are deployed," Houston said. "Having her here made us feel more safe. We're all happy to have her in the neighborhood."

Beato said that though Munley is petite, she's extremely fit and sure of herself.

"She's not quiet," Beato said. "She's very outgoing...she carries herself with a lot of confidence."

Munley is also well-respected in the North Carolina communities where she lived and worked before moving to Texas.

Munley worked for the Wrightsville Beach Police Department for two years starting in spring 2000, Police Chief John Carey said.

"She was a good officer -- she was basically fearless," Carey said. "I'm not really surprised that she went head-on with this."

Carey said Munley was qualified in "active shooter training," which may have helped her take out Hasan. "We are very proud of her for the actions she took," he said.

She is a 1993 graduate of Hoggard High School in Wilmington, N.C., where she was a popular student, Principal Dave Spencer said.

"She was a student you'd remember 17 years later," Spencer said. "We are very thankful that it appears that she is going to be OK."

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Related:

• Officer Commended for Quick Action at Fort Hood