Hero Who Saved Lives in Orlando Shooting Is a Schenectady County Graduate

The bouncer being hailed a hero for saving many lives in the Orlando mass shooting has ties to New York. Imran Yousuf is a 2010 graduate of Niskayuna High School in Schenectady County.

Yousuf was asked by WGNA's Sean McMaster how it felt to be called a hero. "Not to comfortable with it but it’s helping a lot of people cope so for now I’ll go with it, but I was trained to just react and save who we can. We don’t look for the attention. We just do. But a lot are calling me one, so if it helps them, then I’m all for it.”

That training came from the Marines where Yousuf served in Afghanistan. Although he's accustomed to reacting on the battlefield, he's not accustomed to the attention. "I've been dealing with an intense amount of media attention which I had to respectfully decline all day today. There is one segment I did tonight which should air tomorrow morning with CBS and to be honest it created such closure for me that I believe I am finally able to move on. I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for their kind words, prayers and support. It means more than you realize," Yousuf wrote on his Facebook page. "

When shots rang out inside the Pulse nightclub in the early hours of Sunday, June 12th Yousuf tells CBS in his one interview, he was by the back door of the club.

"And I’m screaming ‘Open the door! Open the door!’ And no one is moving because they are scared. There was only one choice. Either we all stay there and we all die, or I could take the chance, and I jumped over to open that latch and we got everyone that we can out of there.”

Despite saving many lives, Yousuf tells CBS through his tears, he wishes he could have saved more.

In the words of WGNA's McMaster, "That’s the thing with heroes, they always wish they could do more."