The Navy SEAL who fired the shot that killed Osama bin Laden is a highly decorated veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who agonized for months over whether to publicly reveal his role in one of the most storied commando operations in U.S. history.
Robert O’Neill, 38, a Montana native, was near the head of the column of U.S. commandos who burst into bin Laden’s Pakistan hideout on May 2, 2011.
In a recent interview, O’Neill confirmed to The Washington Post that he fired the fatal shot that struck bin Laden in the forehead. He also acknowledged that shots were fired by at least two other SEAL team members, including Matt Bissonnette, who famously described the raid in the book, “No Easy Day.”
O’Neill was preparing to make his story public next week with interviews on Fox News and in The Washington Post, but his identity was disclosed preemptively by the Web site SOFREP, operated by former SEAL members, in a protest over O’Neill’s decision to reveal his role in the mission.
Over the course of several meetings with The Post, O’Neill said he decided to go public after becoming convinced that his identity was about to be leaked by others. What once was a closely guarded secret had spread widely through military circles, he said, and was known by members of Congress and at least two news organizations.
His impending decision had also fostered anger among colleagues.
In an Oct. 31 letter to the Naval Special Warfare ranks, B.L. Losey, the commanding officer, and M.L. Magaraci, the force master chief, emphasized that a “critical” tenet of their profession is to “not advertise the nature of my work nor seek recognition for my action.”
“We do not abide willful or selfish disregard for our core values in return for public notoriety or financial gain,” the letter said.
O’Neill said he confirmed his decision to go public after a private encounter with relatives of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on New York’s World Trade Center. During an emotional meeting with victims’ family members before the recent opening of the National September 11 Memorial Museum, the former SEAL decided spontaneously to talk about how bin Laden met his end.
“The families told me it helped bring them some closure,” said O’Neill, whose identity as the shooter was independently corroborated for The Post by two SEAL team members.
O’Neill had previously recounted his experiences to journalist Phil Bronstein for a February 2013 Esquire magazine article that, by agreement, referred to him only as “the shooter.” In the piece, he described advancing through bin Laden’s Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound with five other SEALs, eventually reaching the third floor, where bin Laden lived with his wives.
As other team members peeled off to search different rooms, O’Neill found himself in the No. 2 position, behind the point man, for the final assault on bin Laden’s bedroom. When bin Laden briefly appeared at the door, the SEAL at the front of the line fired a shot that apparently missed.
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