The man who disarmed the gunman who killed two people and injured four others at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte this week is a former member of the NYPD’s elite Emergency Service Unit, who said the specialized team “prepared” him for that moment.
Retired NYPD Det. Rich Gundacker, now a patrol sergeant for UNC Charlotte police couldn’t find killer Trystan Andrew Terrell in time to save the lives of Ellis Parler, 19, or “hero” student Riley Howell, but when he did locate the 22-year-old gunman, he was able to safely disarm him thanks to the training he received in the Big Apple, he said.
“I’m proud of my actions yesterday and owe it to all the great member and training that the best unit in the world taught me over the years,” Gundacker wrote in an undated post to a Facebook group for ESU officers.
“I’m still a proud law enforcement officer and ESU will always be the cream of the crop that prepared me for what I did,” he continued.
Police Commissioner James O’Neill shared a screengrab of the message on Thursday morning to his Twitter account.
“When a gunman opened fire at UNC Charlotte, student Riley Howell saved lives by taking the fight to him,” the top cop wrote. “Tragically, Riley was killed. But his efforts allowed UNC Sgt. Rich Gundacker (retired NYPD ESU) time to arrive & disarm the shooter. These heroes deserve enormous thx/praise.”
Gundacker left the department in 2015 after 20 years on the force, according to an NYPD spokeswoman.
The retiree recalled in the post how Terrell “secreted himself with the victims next to the young deceased Male that had tackled him just before I entered to the room.”
That male student, 21-year-old Howell, was in his liberal studies class with about 30 other students when Terrell ran in and began firing off shots.
Howell ran at the shooter and forced him to the ground, allowing his classmates to escape before he was shot and killed.
Four students, ranging in age from 19 to 23, were also injured, but survived.
It was the last day of classes for the semester.