Tragedy Averted: Hero Houston cop silently took down potential mass shooter at mall, protected children

An off-duty police officer working security at a Houston mall stopped a potential mass shooting of children attending a dance competition in the building when he ambushed a masked man with a rifle and 120 rounds of ammunition, according to new reports and interviews.

On Feb. 2, Sgt. Kenrick Simpo of the Houston Police Department was at a side gig at The Galleria mall when he got a call on about a man with a gun near Macy’s.

He and another security guard hurried that way. They spotted a suspicious masked man with a rifle approaching a crowd of spectators gathered for a local dance competition being held nearby in an attached hotel’s ballroom.

The trained law enforcement officer (LEO) moved to intercept him but did not draw his pistol, fearing it would scare the children in the crowd and unnecessarily escalate the situation. He pretended not to notice the gunman until they were side-by-side, then he pounced.

“I quickly bum rushed, tackled him. And my first reaction was to make sure that I get a hold of the rifle. No matter what I grabbed, make sure I grabbed that rifle,” Simpo told ABC 13 on Friday, his first interview about the incident.

“I had in my mind (that) I was going to get shot. I just had to bear the pain. I knew it was going to hurt, and I was like, ‘Whatever I do, I cannot let go of this rifle.'”

Simpo was able to point the suspect’s gun up toward the ceiling in their scuffle. Backup arrived and helped them arrest the man without a single shot being fired, reported ABC 13.

The armed man was identified as Guido Herrera and was arrested wearing a leather face mask with spikes. Besides the rifle, police also found 120 rounds of ammunition, a handgun and a Bible.

However, the armed and dangerous man was only charged with a misdemeanor because he did not fire any shots. Herrera was sentenced to just six months in prison, reports News Nation.

“I was definitely happy that I had the Lord at my side, that I had angels watching over me, that nothing went bad during that day,” Simpo said when asked by host Kelsey Kernstine how he felt about potentially saving dozens of lives that day.

“Most people didn’t hear about my incident because nothing did happen.”

Simpo also said in interviews about the incident that he was mentally prepared to be shot to protect the crowd.

He said it was “not a good feeling, but you just got to have that mindset that you’re going to win no matter that the cost is.”

“Deep down I knew that I was in the fight for my life, and I wasn’t going to give up.”