A day after a scary active shooter situation left bullet holes in Parliament Pub in West Omaha. Neighbors, businesses owners and responding officers are still very much shaken and are telling their stories.
“16 years with the Sheriff's office and this is the first time that bullets have come this close to me,” said Douglas County Sergeant Joseph Martinec.
Martinec was one of the five officers 63-year-old shooter Dwight Rodgers was allegedly shooting at in the Breckenridge apartment complex.
“You could hear the bullets flying by you,” said Martinec.
Martinec has gone through active shooter training but has never actively shot at, “Maybe a slight sense of panic and fear--but you're thinking to yourself--I got to get out of this situation”.
Martinec said every second during this standoff felt like a lifetime, ”It's quite surreal--everything kind of slows down. What probably only took fractions of a second seemed like an eternity.”
Luckily he came home alive safe and sound to his wife and one-month old daughter.
“It was an emotional experience at the scene you got adrenaline going through you--doesn't hit you what could have been the outcome.
Oddly enough, Thursday evening the Omaha Police Department was training civilians on what to do if an active killer was in your area.
“We need people to behave a certain way so they can survive the first few minutes until police can get there,” said Sergeant Robert Wondra.
Wondra said emotions can run high during these situations and the better people are prepared, the better likihood everyone will be safe.
“These events only average 6-8 minutes--some a little bit less-some more,” said Wondra, “Where people are surviving, is when they make the action right away on evacuating.”
Here's some information on what to do during an active shooter situation:
https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/active_shooter_booklet.pdf
