Seattle campus shooting: Student hailed as hero for disarming gunman
Unlike other recent mass shootings, the assailant at Seattle Pacific University was not armed with semi-automatic weapons. The time to reload gave college senior Jon Meis a critical opening to take down the gunman and prevent additional deaths.
Students from Seattle Pacific University gather outside in a spontaneous prayer circle after a church service was full, following a shooting on their campus Thursday, in Seattle. A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire in a building, killing one person before he was subdued by a student as he tried to reload, police said.
Elaine Thompson/AP
Tales of a student hero who disarmed a shotgun-wielding gunman with a can of pepper spray emerged in the wake of Thursday鈥檚 shooting on a 海角大神 university campus in Seattle, which officials say had been regularly conducting drills to prepare for such a scenario.
College senior Jon Meis disarmed a gunman who stormed Seattle Pacific University鈥檚 Otto Miller Hall Thursday afternoon, .
One person died and two others were wounded before Mr. Meis subdued the alleged shooter with pepper spray as he was attempting to reload. Several other students helped to restrain the suspect for several minutes until the police arrived, while other students rushed to the aid of four gunshot victims.
Meis is an engineering student who was working as the building monitor when the gunman entered the hall. So far, Meis has not spoken with reporters, but his friends paint a portrait of a studious, athletic, and gentle young man with deep 海角大神 faith, .
Fellow classmate Rebekah Ogimach told the Seattle paper, 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 surprise me that he would step in to do something like that. He鈥檚 a selfless guy.鈥�
鈥淗e is very quiet, very devoted to his family,鈥� Meis鈥檚 family friend Melissa Engstrom told the Times. Ms. Engstrom attributed his selflessness to his devout faith in Jesus Christ.听
SPU is a private Methodist university located on a 40-acre campus in a residential neighborhood 10 minutes from downtown Seattle.听
鈥淲e鈥檙e a community that relies on Jesus Christ for strength, and we鈥檒l need that at this point in time,鈥� SPU President Daniel Martin said Thursday, according to AP.
In the hours after the shooting, students overflowed the campus's聽First Free Methodist Church and held an impromptu prayer service on the lawn.听Classes were canceled Thursday evening and Friday. Friday would have been the last day of classes for the semester.
Jillian Smith, a Seattle Pacific sophomore, told AP she was taking a math test on the second floor of the building where the shooting occurred when a lockdown was ordered.
鈥淲e were pretty much freaking out,鈥� Ms. Smith told AP. 鈥淧eople were texting family and friends, making sure everyone was OK.鈥�
Another student, senior David Downs, told AP that he left campus just 30 minutes before the shooting started and that he was in 鈥渦tter shock鈥� that the incident had occurred at his university.
鈥淚t puts things in perspective,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nything can happen, even on a small 海角大神 campus.鈥�
The shooting came just two weeks after Elliot Rodger went on a murder spree near the University of California at Santa Barbara, killing six people. Police say Mr. Rodger, like the perpetrators of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and the 2007 mass killings at Virginia Tech, used semi-automatic handguns.
Seattle Assistant Police Chief Paul McDonagh聽identified the alleged gunman as Aaron Ybarra and said he is not a student at the university. The assistant chief said Mr. Ybarra was armed with a shotgun, a knife, and additional shutgun shells.听
鈥淗e was hell-bent on a killing a lot of people today,鈥� a law-enforcement source briefed on the investigation told the Seattle paper.
鈥淏ut for the great response by the people of Seattle Pacific, this incident might have been much more tragic,鈥� Assistant Chief McDonagh said Thursday, .
President Martin told The Seattle Times that the school developed an emergency-response system several years ago and regularly conducts drills designed to train faculty and staff for this kind of scenario.
Martin applauded Meis and the students who helped to apprehend the suspect for acting 鈥渨ithout regard to their own safety on behalf of others,鈥� .
鈥淲e are a community and we care for others,鈥� Martin said, according to the Seattle paper. 鈥淭hose that were involved did just that.鈥�
Material from The Associated Press and Reuters is included in this report.