Tacoma, Washington

From the Corvallis Gazette-Times of November 23, 2005

Mall shooting victim drew own pistol, family says

Parents of the man most seriously wounded in a shooting rampage at a shopping mall said Tuesday that he drew a pistol and confronted the gunman before being shot.

Brendan “Dan’’ McKown, 38, was hit twice in the abdomen on Sunday, when a gunman opened fire on crowds in the Tacoma Mall.

Doctors at Tacoma General Hospital believe McKown may have suffered permanent paralysis because of spinal damage, hospital spokesman Todd Kelley said.

Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said detectives don’t know if McKown simply brandished his handgun to show the gunman he was armed, or if he was preparing to fire the weapon. Witnesses told the family McKown was shot after he pulled the gun.

Roger McKown, 63, of Yelm, called his son a hero and said he has been licensed to carry a firearm for years.

“Dan has been one that always believes in protecting other people, and he put his life on the line for other people,’’ he said at a hospital news conference.

From Portland’s KATU.com of February 14, 2006

Recovery Continues For Mall Shooting Victim

A man who tried to stop a shooting rampage at a mall in Tacoma, but ended getting shot five times, is on an incredible road to recovery.

"He hit me repeatedly with an assault rifle at point blank range and he blew my spine out," says Dan McKown.

You may have heard of McKown, the hero inside the Tacoma Mall who put his life on the line to try to stop a gunman on a shooting spree.

Spend a little time with McKown, who does standup comedy, and you will get to see his big sense of humor.

However, he is now trapped in a new life and trying not to let the daily struggles with a wheelchair get him down too much.

McKown would not be in this position had he not been at work on Nov. 20. He managed a store inside the mall and was chatting with a friend when he heard gunshots.

"Bam, bam, bam, bam, high rate of fire, people wer diving for cover," he says.

That is when McKown pulled his pistol, the gun he has carried for 17 years, not imagining he might actually have to use it. That is, until he came face to face with Dominick Maldonado, who had a rifle.

"I said - 'Young man, I think you need to put your weapon down.' He apparently didn't appreciate that and he brought his gun around. I drew and right as I aimed at his head, he hit me in the spine," McKown says. "Each blow is throwing my arm back into the air and I'm just praying to God, something really un-Christian, just please let me kill this guy before he shoots somebody else."

As McKown was bleeding and believing he was going to die, police say Maldonado took hostages, keeping officers and paramedics outside for another hour and twenty minutes.

"I tried to be a hero, but I don't think I succeeded," says McKown.

However, everyone who meets McKown believes he did succeed and is proving it every day by proving doctors wrong.

Doctors told McKown he would never walk again and even though it is painful, the baby steps he is taking are huge steps toward regaining the feeling and movement in his legs.

"It increases his independence," says Physical Therapy Assistant Kristy Hegnauer. "It's what he wants to do. Everybody wants to be back up on their feet and walking again. He's meeting that goal."

"Where do miracles start and where do they end?" McKown asks. "People keep saying it's a miracle. Yeah, it's completely a miracle. The question is, does the miracle let me walk scot-free afterwards?"

That is why McKown believes he is still in the middle of his miracle and whether he walks on his own again or not, he says would do it all again because even the worst days are worth it if his experience somehow turns a troubled young man to God.

"It'd like to think there was a reason I didn't shoot him," he said. "I'm hoping that there was a higher authority that gave me the instinct to put the gun back in my jacket because I'd rather not be crippled for no reason."

As for his future, McKown hopes to get back in to comedy and is even planning a tour with his comedy troupe once he feels a little better.

As for his accused shooter, Maldonado's trial begins in April and McKown says he plans to be there.