Retired ATF agent talks about blocked shot

TAMPA, Fla. (WSVN) -- A former South Florida federal agent is finally speaking out 25 years after a bullet almost took his life.

Carlos Montalvo said the bullet fired from a drug suspect's gun entered the barrel of his gun, fusing to his own bullet. Both guns were the same make and model.

Montalvo said he keeps the bullet as a reminder. "His bullet went so straight through the barrel of my gun that it felt like the recoil of my bullet going out," he said, "and he beat me by fractions of seconds on me pulling the trigger."

Retired Hialeah Police Department Officer Luis Diaz said the outcome of the shooting is astonishing. "It was so incredible, and it will never happen again," said Diaz. "Carlos, to me, he was like a super cop."

The 1987 shooting took place in the Westland Mall parking lot.

Montalvo said the only reason he can talk about it now is because he recently retired from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.

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