Niskayuna Graduate Called A Hero For His Actions During The Attack In Orlando

A war veteran with ties to the Capital Region jumped to action Saturday night during the Orlando night club shooting saving many lives.

Imran Yousuf, a proud graduate of Niskayuna High School class of 2010 was the bouncer at the Pulse nightclub that Saturday night.  Yousuf, a 24-year-old Hindu, also served as a U.S. Marine in Afghanistan.

I spoke with Imran this morning on Facebook and he was a very polite accommodating young man who in his mind just did what was natural. I asked him how it feels to have people calling him a hero and he said, "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 of care otherwise we just do but a lot are calling me one so if it helps them then I'm all for it"

After talking to him it was easy to see why he had so many of his High School and Marine buddies telling him how much they are NOT surprised by his actions that night. This is clearly a young man that we all can be proud to say lived here in the Capital Region.

He recalls his events with CBS news.

“The initial one was three or four (shots). That was a shock. Three of four shots go off and you could tell it was a high caliber," he said. "Everyone froze. I'm here in the back and I saw people start pouring into the back hallway, and they just sardine pack everyone."

As an employee, Yousuf knew there was a door at the end of the hallway that needed to be opened so he jumped over the crowd to unlock the door.  That single act saved many lives as nightclub goers ran out the door to safety.

"And I'm screaming 'Open the door! Open the door!' And no one is moving because they are scared," he explained. "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 a we got everyone that we can out of there."

Yousuf goes on to say he wishes he could have saved more people, but that’s the thing with heroes, they always wish they could do more!