Sunday marked a month since the police shootings in downtown Dallas, the deadliest attack on law enforcement since 9/11.
The horrific events thrust Dallas' Mayor Mike Rawlings and Police Chief David Brown into the national spotlight at a painful time.
Rawlings sat down with NBC 5's Meredith Land to recount the events of that night, how decisions were made and the overwhelming community response that followed.
He said on July 7 he got the call about gunfire in Dallas.
"I immediately went to my closet, and said, 'this is going to be a long night.' I knew this was serious after I talked to Chief Brown and he told me the first two officers had been killed. So, I was immediately heartbroken," Rawlings said.
Rawlings said he and Brown watched the horrific events unfold underground in Dallas' Emergency Operations Center.
"He [Brown] would get information from the field and give it to me. I wasn't upset. I was more heartbroken. I quickly got upset as the evening went on and the sobriety took over with what had happened," Rawlings said.
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The mayor said the unknowns that night were the most difficult part.
"Were we being attacked as a city? We didn't know those facts," said Rawlings. "The first thing was the heartbreak for the officers and the families."
Mayor Rawlings said very early on, he and Brown formed a united front, together making decisions and visiting the officers' families at hospitals.
Throughout, he said Brown was calm and an extraordinary leader.
"He had a, 'just the facts' attitude about this. He didn't have time to be emotive in a moment like that. People's lives were on the line," Rawlings said.
Rawlings said Brown ultimately made the call to send in the robot armed with explosives that killed the shooter.
"We heard it was executed correctly and it was a big relief," said Rawlings.
Rawlings spoke boldly on television about how they wiped the shooter off the face of the earth, a comment he doesn't regret.
"That was a little bit my anger coming out," said Rawlings. "He had destroyed dozens and dozens of lives, not only killed five people, but changed the lives of so many people. It was so unfair and it was pure evil."
Straight talk, Rawlings acknowledged is what he has become known for as mayor.
"I found out a long time ago communication is about communicating, being straightforward. A lot of times you need a very simple word," he said. "If I'm gonna tell you something, I need to be straightforward and tell you how I feel."
As for his relationship with Brown, Rawlings said he gained an enormous about of respect for the chief.
"I'm not sure I could have done the job he has done," he said. "To realize that leadership is a painful thing at times, but that's why you need great leaders and he is one."
When asked what he will remember most about July 7 and the days and weeks that followed in Dallas, Rawlings said, "I am so proud of Dallas. The love, the support, the prayers, the money. The city just reacted in a marvelous way. It was wonderful."
