This 18-year-old is not done saving lives.
Joshua Jones has already been credited with averting more bloodshed after he charged at a gunman at a Colorado STEM school last week. The young man now says the traumatic experience has convinced him to pursue a dream he’s long-harbored — to become an EMT.
Jones was one of three students who attempted to disarm a shooter who’d entered their classroom at STEM School Highlands Ranch on Tuesday. He told “Good Morning America” that the gunman had entered the room brandishing a weapon and said, “Nobody move.” His classmates Kendrick Castillo and Brendan Bialy got up immediately, Jones said, and “rushed” at the attacker.
“Kendrick pushed him against the wall. Me and Brendan grabbed him and threw him to the ground,” said Jones, who was shot twice in the skirmish.
Castillo, who was days away from graduating, was killed — the sole fatality in the shooting. Other than Jones, at least seven other people were injured in the attack.
Students at the school have said that many more lives could have been lost had their three classmates not acted so quickly.
“When it actually happened, I had to make that decision that nobody should really ever have to make, which was run toward the gunman or run away from him. I chose to run towards him,” Jones told “GMA.”
The teen’s family said the experience with the shooting had affirmed Jones’ desire to become a paramedic.
He “always thought he wanted to become an EMT but now he’s certain,” CNN quoted family spokesman Josh Lewis as saying.
Lewis added that Jones does not want to be referred to as a hero.
“He considers himself really blessed and fortunate,” Lewis said, adding that the young man was filled with sadness for Castillo’s family.
Two of the school’s students, Devon Erickson, 18, who is the suspected shooter, and Alec McKinney, 16, face murder and attempted murder charges.