![]() ![]() The round that killed Mellberg – Brown's fourth When Mellberg didn't fall after the first two rounds, Brown wondered if Andyīrown practiced regularly and usually shot well enough to be ratedĮxpert, but no one practices shooting that handgun at targets 70 yards More people, while seriously injuring injured another 22 before beingĪ Beretta M9 is the Air Force's standard issue for security police, andĪll officers must prove their proficiency with their sidearm. Tom Brigham and Alan London first, then three Psychologist and psychiatrist he blamed for ending his Air ForceĬareer. His shooting spree was his attempt at revenge on the Who'd been forced out of the Air Force two months earlier, was actedingĪlone. Mellberg, a mentally unstable 20-year-old He waited for backup, watching the still figure on theīut the reports proved wrong. Radio traffic had reported a second gunman, a sniper on the hospitalĪnnex roof. Brown stood up and went toward a pickup truck for cover. On the fourth, the man kicked his legs, spun around and fell on hisīack. I don’t remember that but some part of me believes he was shooting in my direction.”īrown took careful aim and fired four shots in controlled succession. “Witnesses said he fired in my direction. The man turned and pointed the rifle at him. He steadied his handgun and told the gunman to drop his Brown parked his bike about 80 yards away and walkedįorward about 10 yards, drawing his Beretta M9 and dropping to his Where is he, where is he? BrownĪnd then he saw a man holding a rifle in the street in front of the ![]() Pedaled hard toward the medical complex as he approached people andĬars were streaming the other way. He was talking with a friend at a security gate when they heard a radioĬall about shooting at the hospital nearby. Washing their cars as he pedaled through base housing. It was a sunny, cloudless Monday, he recalled: people were out Six months as a security policeman, and just recently assigned to bike ![]() Andy Brown, aįive-year veteran of the Air Force. For the rest of the story, go inside the blog He's started a website and is working on a book. Now he's trying to help other law enforcement officers avoid the same fate, keep connected with some of the other survivors and understand what caused Mellberg to snap. I pretty much stuffed down any feelings I was starting to have.” They didn't stay stuffed down and eventually Brown, who'd hoped to have a career in military law enforcement, left the Air Force with a medical disability. He knew he needed help, but discovered a Catch-22 that military police officers face: He could have counseling for post-traumatic stress symptoms only if he turned in his badge and gun. Months later, Brown found himself struggling with so much anxiety that his hands would shake when making a routine traffic stop. It gnawed at him that Mellberg was able to kill and maim people on his watch. But the mantle of hero never sat comfortably on Brown, who was a 24-year-old Air Force security policeman on bike patrol that day. Brown He got a medal and a move to Hawaii. He became a legend, the guy who made “the shot” that stopped Dean Mellberg's murderous rampage through the Fairchild Air Force Base hospital complex on June 20, 1994. For regular Web readers, however, here's a profile that's a hopeful update for the 16th anniversary of one Spokane's biggest tragedies.Ī psychotic gunman made Andy Brown into a hero 16 years agocq june 20. Spin Control note: Today's newspaper column has items recast from last week. ![]()
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