PONTIAC, Mich. – Like so many others across the country, Terone Hartfield woke up Monday morning to learn about the mass shooting that killed dozens of people in Las Vegas.
Hartfield went to work hoping his phone wouldn't ring, and when it did, his worst fear became a reality.
"It's tough," Hartfield said. "It's tough. That is my absolute hero."
Hartfield's brother, Charleston Hartfield, attended the Jason Aldean concert in Las Vegas with his wife, Veronica. When the gunman opened fire, the couple quickly rushed to find safety.
Charleston Hartfield was a Las Vegas police officer and former Army veteran. He was off duty at the time of the shooting.
"They say, 'Be strong for your family,' and I'm going to do that," Terone Hartfield said. "But at the same time, I'm in pain, in pain, in pain all over."
Terone Hartfield said his brother was trying to help other people when he was killed.
"He took his wife and got her to safety, and being the warrior that he truly was, he went back and helped other people," Terone Hartfield said.
But when Charleston Hartfield went back into the line of fire, he was pierced by the bullets spraying down on the crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
"His wife tried to drag him back to safety," Terone Hartfield said. "She couldn't. He pushed her away because he knew he was going. He said, 'I'm dying.' He pushed her to safety."
Terone Hartfield said there is so much he wishes he could tell his brother.
"It was my job to bring the family together, and I'm going to keep us together," Terone Hartfield said.
The brothers don't habve pictures together because they discovered they were brothers at the beginning of the year. Terone Hartfield said they were making up for decades of lost time.
Now, the families will come together for a funeral.
"There's nothing wrong with being upset," Terone Hartfield said. "In today's time, I can't forgive what happened to my brother."
He said he hopes his brother's death brings about true change in gun control.
"So many guns, so many rounds fired," Terone Hartfield said. "My brother actually thought the gunfire was coming from low. He had no idea it was elevated."