LVMPD detective honored after heart-wrenching decision during Las Vegas mass shooting
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — It was the moment when gunfire rained down on the Las Vegas Strip. The moment when everyday heroes were forged out of tragedy.
Longtime Det. Rick Golgart was off-duty on October 1 when he was at the Route 91 Harvest Festival with family and friends.
“When the pops started happening initially I thought it was fireworks,” said Golgart.
“It wasn’t until a gentleman walked up to us with a gunshot wound to the leg that I realized there was something more serious happening.”
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Golgart is now being honored by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund for his selfless actions during the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
On October 1, Golgart rushed to help the wounded, piling people into the back of his truck.
In the midst of the chaos, Golgart was separated from his then 18-year-old daughter Rylie.
“She called me. I talked to her. She briefly said she was okay at that point,” said Golgart.
His daughter was near the stage. He told her to stay put as he raced victims to the hospital.
“Halfway to UMC I got the phone call that no father wants, and it was from my daughter. She had said that she had been shot,” said Golgart.
Rylie was shot in the lower back. It’s at that point, Golgart had a decision to make.
“What do I do? Do I go back? Or I’ve got a truckload of people,” said Golgart. “Now, I think I made the right decision because I saved a lot of people’s lives.”
58 people died and hundreds more were injured in the mass shooting.
Rylie would survive that night but now faces years of recovery and rehabilitation.
“There are so many heroes and there are so many of us that had to do what we had to do that night, they’re all heroes,” said Golgart.
Det. Golgart will be honored at a special awards ceremony along with other Officer of the Month Award recipients for 2018 in Washington, D.C. next year.
