February 24th, 2010

Deer Creek Middle School Shooting Update: Math Teacher Tackles Gunman.  Yesterday’s shooting at the Deer Creek Middle School in Littleton, Colorado re-opened a bunch of wounds for a community still mourning over the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.  A gunman entered the school and shot two students.  He was stopped when a math teacher tackled him.

The man was armed with a high powered rifle. He shot one male and one female student at around 3:30 PM – 25 minutes after school typically lets out.  Both victims have been taken to the hospital and are expected to survive.

The teacher that tackled the gunman is 6 foot 5 inch former college basketball player-turned middle school math teacher David Benke.

The teacher told Associated Press reporters “He was trying to rack another round. He couldn’t get another round in before I got to him so I grabbed him.”  He doesn’t consider himself a hero and didn’t have time to fear for his life.

Authorities still aren’t sure why the suspect perpetrated this attack. He attended the middle school back in the 1990’s and the CBI reports that he had an arrest record dating back to 1996 that included violence and alcohol related offenses.

The gunman’s father said that the attack was a “stupid thing to do.”

One of the students has been released, whereas another student was transferred to another hospital.

The photo on this article is of Steve Potter, a bus driver who helped David Benke subdue the gunman.

Source:
Associated Press

Photo Credit: Associated Press