The hero Brooklyn-born cop who took up to nine bullets trying to stop an alleged racist madman shooting up a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee was more worried about other victims than himself.
“He told them to go into the temple,” Oak Creek, Wis., Police Chief John Edwards said today about Police Lt. Brian Murphy, 51, whose brother, Terry, is a retired NYPD detective.
Brian Murphy had waved off help from fellow officers Sunday during the carnage at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.
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His former boss, ex-Oak Creek Police Chief Thomas Bauer, told The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal that he’s not surprised.
“He is that guy,” Bauer said.
Murphy — who Bauer said has kept his New York accent and attitude despite more than 20 years on the job in Wisconsin — is in critical condition at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa.
“He’s a highly distinguished police officer, highly decorated,” Bauer said of Brian Murphy, who also served in the Marines.
Bauer said the cop got a commendation during a 2004 investigation into fallen electrical towers that had been sabotaged by someone who loosened the bolts.