The man who was photographed covering a woman in a viral Las Vegas massacre photo was identified as a U.S. Army soldier.
The picture of Matthew Cobos was snapped by a Getty photographer. He was lying on top of a young woman in an attempt to shield her from the bullets on Sunday night.
Stephen Paddock, 64, was identified by officials as the gunman who opened fire on 22,000 country music fans at the Route 91 Harvest festival. He was firing down on a crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino.
Cobos attempted to cover the woman’s eyes from seeing the bloodshed around her. The Getty photographer, David Becker, captured that moment.
Becker said on Tuesday, Oct. 3, that the two managed to escape shortly after the photo was taken.
Cobos, it was reported, then “ran back into the danger zone to help others who had been injured” after the woman was got to safety.
To stop bleeding, he apparently used a belt as a tourniquet and placed his fingers in bullet holes of victims.
The report said that he’s back in California with his family, but he lives in Hawaii where he’s a cavalry scout.
The identity of the woman was not revealed.
Paddock sprayed bullets continuously on the concert crowd of 22,000 people for about 10 minutes, starting at 10:05 p.m. PT (1:05 a.m. ET on Monday), according to Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo. Police blew open Paddock’s hotel room door 75 minutes after the shooting started, finding he had killed himself, Reuters reported.
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