This week’s story is as unfunny as any I’ve ever written, but the actions of an off-duty cop were so heroic that the story needs to be told again, and again. Next time you see a cop, thank him for the actions of Officer Ken Hammond.

An off-duty cop, on an early Valentine’s Day date with his wife, helped end a massacre in a Salt Lake City shopping mall.

Ken Hammond, a police officer with the Ogden, Utah, Police Department was in a restaurant at the Trolley Square Shopping Center in Salt Lake City when he heard repeated gunfire.

Hammond told his wife to "take cover" as he went out into the mall with his pistol drawn. Almost immediately Hammond spotted Sulejmen Talovic, 18, a Bosnian, and began exchanging gunfire with him.

Talovic, armed with a .38-caliber pistol and a shotgun, had already killed five people and seriously wounded four others. Talovic was carrying a backpack which was filled with ammunition for both weapons he carried.

Officer Hammond was able to keep Talovic at bay until other cops arrived at the scene. There can be no doubt that Officer Hammond’s confrontation of the gunman saved other lives. As police reinforcements arrived there was an exchange of gunfire. Talovic went down, dead at the spot where he fell.

At first report, investigators were not sure which police bullet killed the gunman but ballistic tests will be performed.

One thing is clear, according to police supervisors: Had Officer Hammond not responded to Talovic’s rampage, many other innocent civilians would have been shot to death or been seriously wounded.

Hammond’s boss, Ogden Police Chief John Greiner, said he expects the Utah State Senate to honor Officer Hammond in some way.

The question of "why did Talovic go on a killing rampage" may never be answered. Family and friends have been interviewed but there are no clear answers. This incident may remain one more unexplained American tragedy.

This story was first reported by a team of Associated Press reporters including Doug Alden, Jennifer Dobner, and Debbie Hummel.