Teacher who stopped Indiana school shooter says he is not a hero, there was no other choice
The teacher who is being hailed as a hero for taking down the student shooter of a high school in Indiana has said that what he did should not be seen as a decision he made, but as something that had to be done.
A teenager stormed Jason Seaman’s classroom at Noblesville West Middle School in Noblesville, Indiana, armed with two handguns on Friday and opened fire in the class.
The 29-year-old football coach and former college defensive lineman acted almost instantly and ran at the shooter and tackled him to the ground. He then asked his students to dial 911.
According to Seaman's mother, Kristi, one of the bullets pierced Seaman's abdomen, another struck his hip and the third one hit his forearm.
The 7th-grade science teacher, Jason Seaman, during a press conference on Monday morning, said: "I deeply care for my students and their wellbeing. So that is why I did what I did.”
"My actions on that day, in my mind, were the only acceptable actions I could have done given the circumstances," Seaman added.
Another student, 13-year-old Ella Whistler, was also wounded in the incident. Her family on Saturday said that she was in a critical but stable condition. Latest reports state that her condition appears to be improving.
Seaman, during the press conference, said: "I can’t say enough how proud of Ella I am and how we all should be. Her courage and strength at such a young age is nothing short of remarkable, and we should all continue to keep her in our minds as she continues to recover.”
Police officers who reached the scene credited Seaman's quick actions for ending a situation which could have been far worse than it was. The teacher, however, on Monday said that people should allocate the praise elsewhere because he is a person who is "not looking for attention," according to HuffingtonPost.
Seaman also talked about the "unbelievably brave” school resource officer who stormed to the site of the incident and assisted Ella after she was bleeding profusely.
The teacher also thanked one of the high school students who set up a charity page online for Seaman to help him pay his medical expenses after the incident.
“I can’t really fathom how someone I have not personally met would do such an act of kindness,” he said, “and how the Noblesville community has been so generous in its response to it.”