John Meis, an engineering major at Seattle Pacific University, stopped a gunman on campus by confronting him with pepper spray.
According to The New York Daily News, The gunman walked in Otto Miller hall, the place where John Meis volunteers at a security desk, and began shooting Thursday. After shooting four people, the gunman stopped to reload his gun and Meis stepped in, attacking the gunman with his only weapon, a can of pepper spray. Meis then knocked the gunman to the ground and held him there with the help of a few others.
The gunman was identified as Aaron Ybarra, a 26 year old who is not a student at the University. The gunman shot four people, killing one, a 19 year old. Of the other three a 22 year old has been released from the hospital, a 24 year old remains in satisfactory condition and a 20 year old is in critical conditions after several hours of surgery according to Seattle police.
The University issued a lockdown as soon as they were notified of the gunman. Several students were in the building the building where the gunman fired, taking final exams. The gunman had fired multiple shots and still had a lot of ammo left over. Officials believe that if the hero’s at Seattle Pacific would have not stopped the gunman, then the incident could have left many others wounded or dead according to Paul McDonagh, assistant police chiefABC News noted.
The shooting was something students at Seattle Pacific University never expected to happen on their campus. The students gathered at a First United Methodist church on campus to pray for those affected by the shooting later on that day. All classes and activities for the University have been cancelled for Friday.