Video Editor: Vivek Gupta
Video Producer: Hera Khan
Former University of Oregon football star and head coach of the football and track teams, Keanon Lowe, was hailed as a hero after a video was released by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office on Friday, 18 October, where Lowe was seen wrestling a gun away from a student then embracing him.
On 17 May 2019, the student had walked into a classroom at Parkrose High School with an intention to kill himself with the shotgun he was carrying, the district attorney’s office said in a statement according to CNN.
It was earlier reported by CNN that Lowe had tackled the student, but as per the newly released video footage, it was ascertained that the coach did not do so.
According to AP, Lowe said at a press conference in May, “I saw the look on his face, the look in his eyes, I looked at the gun, I realise it was a real gun and then my instincts just took over.”
The 27-year-old head coach said he “lunged for the gun, put two hands on the gun and he had his two hands on the gun and obviously the students are running out of the classroom.”
He said that he had a few moments with the teenager, who was distraught, before police arrived.
“It was emotional for him, it was emotional for me. In that time, I felt compassion for him. A lot of times, especially when you’re young, you don’t realise what you’re doing until it’s over,” Lowe had said.
(With inputs from CNN, AP)
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