President Donald Trump on Monday personally thanked the man responsible for wrestling a gun from a shooter at a Waffle House in Tennessee last month.
Trump had a phone call with James Shaw Jr., 29, on Monday morning to “commend his heroic actions and quick thinking,” White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah said during a daily press briefing.
“Mr. Shaw saved lives when he wrestled a gun from an active shooter who had opened fire,” Shah said.
Shaw has been hailed as a hero for tackling and disarming a man as he shot up a Waffle House restaurant outside Nashville, Tennessee. Four people were killed in the shooting, and two others were injured, but police said Shaw’s actions likely prevented many others from being shot.
Shaw, who has a 4-year-old daughter, has raised over $240,000 for the victims of the Waffle House shooting. He met on Saturday with Never Again activists and survivors of the Parkland, Florida, shooting for what one of the attendees called a “legendary breakfast.”
Tennessee State University, Shaw’s alma mater, held a ceremony this month to honor him and announce the creation of a scholarship in his name. The reluctant hero has insisted that anybody under the same circumstances could do what he did.
“I was just trying to save myself. I did this with no recognition,” he said at the Tennessee State University event. “But it seems like it inspired so many people throughout the world. For that, I am greatly, greatly appreciative. To all of you, thank you.”
Shaw did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.