Kenneth Hammond, Our Hero!

As Ogden City police officer Kenneth Hammond walked out of the Rodizio Grill after a quiet, romantic Valentine's Day dinner with wife Sarita, he heard what he thought was construction-and paid little attention to it.

"There was some sort of popping noise...I didn't hear anybody yelling or screaming," he said.

And Hammond continued walking west on the upper level toward the 600 South entrance of Trolley Square where they hoped to find "a little Valentine's Day gift for our [unborn] son."

As they continued walking, a person bleeding and distraught passed them on the floor below going the other way, screaming. Hammond found that weird-and when that person yelled, "He's got a gun!" it was Hammond who went from what he termed "romantic mode into police officer mode" and instructed his wife, a police dispatcher to "go back to the restaurant, lock it down and call 911."

She did what he wanted and the Rodizio Grill locked down. By the time Hammond unholstered his weapon Salt Lake City SWAT had already arrived and were positioned outside the mall in strategic locations. Because the mall has several levels and the majority of shops can be seen from the outside, there are a tremendous amount of glass windows through which the police were able to gain vantage points.

At the time Hammond says he was on the second floor of the mall and the shooter, Talovic was on the first. Hammond says he started yelling "OPD!" as loud as he could, trying to get the shooter's attention on him-and not the SWAT team armed with machine guns and making headway on the shooter, according to Hammond.

Hammond says the shooter "engaged him" after he had just exited a gift shop near the Hard Rock Café on the first floor. Hammond says he was afraid the shooter would "sneak up behind me" since the OPD officer was on the second floor and there were moments that Hammond could not see the shooter.

But people are calling Hammond a hero because of his bravery. First, he says he couldn't get his badge out of his wallet, probably due to what was happening. Second, his engagement of Talovic gave SWAT the time they needed to seek out the shooter and stop the massacre.

Hammond says it was a game of cat-and-mouse and he had the shooter's undivided attention.

"All I can say is that when I saw the suspect, nobody else was hurt," Hammond said.

Talovic, according to information Hammond gave this evening, was probably shot by SWAT team members "through a glass window."

"I was directing his attention towards me giving them (SWAT) time to take care of the suspect," Hammond says.

"I think it's very heroic," added Hammond's wife.

But Hammond says it was so surreal-and he's not a hero; anyone would have done the same thing in his position.

"Last night was like it wasn't even real," Hammond said. "It's like it didn't happen."

But it did-and officer Kenneth Hammond is a true hero.