REVEALED: Shooter Who Killed Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan, May 2, 2011

The identity of the Navy SEAL who shot and killed Osama bin Laden was a closely held secret until Thursday, when a site operated by former SEALs disclosed his name.

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.

In this undated image from video seized from bin Laden's compound, the Al-Qaeda chief watches a TV programme showing an image of President Obama

Robert O’Neill, 38, a Montana native, was near the head of the column of U.S. soldiers that burst into bin Laden’s Pakistan hideout in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011 where the al-Qaeda leader was killed.

Robert O'Neill, Team Leader, the Naval Special Warfare Development Group

U.S. soldiers burst into bin Laden’s Pakistan hideout in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011. (Photoillustration by John Ritter)

President Obama and his national security team monitored the raid on Bin Laden's compound

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” published in 2012.

Robert O’Neill, 38, a Montana native

O'Neill said he and another member of the team - whose identity remains secret - climbed the stairs to the third floor of the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and saw Bin Laden poke his head outside the door of one of the rooms. The unnamed commando, at the "point position" leading the column, fired at him but missed, according to Mr O'Neill. An instant later, O'Neill went into the room and killed the al-Qaeda leader with shots to the head, he says.

Navy Seals usually abide by a code of silence that forbids them from publicly taking credit for their actions. O'Neill, who retired in 2012, had previously told his story anonymously to Esquire magazine.