Three students have died after an Ohio school shooting, according to CBS, but countless lives were saved thanks to a heroic football coach.
Thomas "T.J." Lane, 17, opened fire, killing three teens and injuring two others in a rampage at Chardon High School Monday morning where 1,100 students were enrolled, according to CNN. But the tragic shooting came to a swift end when the school's assistant football coach and study hall teacher, Frank Hall, chased the shooter out of the building, the news outlet reports.
"Coach Hall, he always talks about how much he cares about us students, his team and everyone," Neil Thomas, a student at Chardon, told CNN. "And I think today he really went out and he proved how much he cared about us. He would take a bullet for us."
Lane was caught about a half hour after the shooting began with the help of citizens and a police dog, according to the Daily Mail and is expected to be arraigned Tuesday, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
Students and faculty say they're not shocked that Hall, a married father of four adopted children, was the one to step up during the tumult.
"He's a tremendous man," quarterback coach Don Navatsyk told the Daily Beast. "Frankly it doesn't surprise me that he would put himself in harm's way. He's that type of guy, he's a guy of faith."
Hall, still shaken by the tragedy, doesn't consider himself a hero.
"I just want to say I'm sorry for the families," he told newsnet5.com, "I wish I could have done more.”
FBI agents have not revealed whether they've found a motive in the shooting. A psychologist told the Huffington Post that Lane revealed a troubled side of himself through Facebook updates that should have served as a red flag.
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