LAPD's Steve Gomez retires - he was the last active-duty SWAT officer involved in 1997 North Hollywood shootout. (Click on image to view photo slideshow).

Feb. 28, 1997: Two armored gunmen with fully automatic rifles storm a Bank of America branch in North Hollywood, resulting in a 44-minute shootout with police that injures 12 officers and seven civilians and leaves both robbers dead.

Thirteen years after the shootout, in which the gunmen fired about 1,400 armor-piercing rounds at police, the last of the three SWAT officers who helped take on the suspects has retired from the Los Angeles Police Department.

Sgt. Steven Gomez stepped down Friday after 33 years on the force - including 21 with SWAT - in favor of a quieter life with his family, which now includes his first grandchild, month-old Kylie.

The retirement caps a career in which Gomez achieved the rare distinction of earning two Medals of Valor, the LAPD's highest honor, and a national policing award among 135 commendations overall.

After Gomez ceremonially led his platoon in a final morning physical fitness test run Friday, more than 100 officers from Metropolitan Division assembled in the courtyard of LAPD headquarters to send him off. As he moved through the ranks, shaking hands, many thanked him and expressed pleasure at working with him.

"Even heroes have heroes, and Steve is one of those," said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. "Steve is somebody that we all respect for his ability, his compassion and his absolute, absolute heroic acts no matter what the potential cost to him."

North Hollywood shootout, photos from Feb. 28, 1997. (Click on image to view photo slideshow).

LAPD, in a rare move, authorized a replica of Gomez's badge, enabling him to retire with his badge number while simultaneously passing it on to his successor.

The badge number - 4154 - appears on the SWAT logo and carries special meaning for its members because it refers to the street addresses of two major incidents that helped put SWAT on the map.

Gomez, who declined to make a speech because he was worried about becoming too emotional, cracked and teared up after his end-of-watch broadcast was played over police radios.

"I'm overwhelmed," Gomez said later. "I'm humbled. I can't put that into words."

When Gomez, 55, looks back on his career, the North Hollywood shootout easily stands out as the biggest highlight.

Gomez was with two other SWAT officers who drove their police vehicle through gunfire to provide cover for an armored truck trying to rescue a wounded officer.

They were then directed down Archwood Street, where they came face to face with gunman Emil Matasareanu, who was stranded after trying to carjack a Jeep whose driver had fled with the keys.

Less than 20 feet away, Matasareanu opened fire and Gomez returned fire, allowing his colleagues to get out of the car. He was able to roll out of the cruiser, lay prone on the blacktop and shoot at Matasareanu's lower legs from under the patrol car.

All that mattered to him at the moment was survival.

"He was firing fully automatic weapons and we were trying to stop him," Gomez said. "'We're the last line. so we had to stop him,'- that's what I was thinking.

"That, and not getting shot."

After more than two minutes of shooting, Matasareanu dropped and officers moved in and cuffed him. Matasareanu later bled to death.

Gomez became one of more than a dozen officers to receive a Medal of Valor, the LAPD's highest honor, for his involvement in the now infamous shootout.

It wasn't his first, though. He had received a medal in 1983 after rescuing two nurses who had been held hostage for 14 hours by a gunman in the Wilshire area.

"To receive one is remarkable," said Deputy Chief Richard Roupoli. "To receive two is extraordinary."

Among Gomez's 135 commendations is a Top Cop Award, for which he got to travel to Washington D.C. in 1998 to meet President Bill Clinton.

"I never thought Steve would leave," said Councilman Dennis Zine, a family friend, before presenting Gomez with another commendation. "This is a celebration ... for a man we all respect, a man who's given so much of his time and his life to the people of Los Angeles."

To Gomez, who shies away from being called a hero and insists he was just doing his job, it's time to relax.

"I just want to wake up and kind of figure out what to do today," he said. "There's no time frame, I don't have to be some place.

"I'm looking forward to looking forward," Gomez said. "I plan on spoiling my granddaughter."