How Chris Mintz responded to the shooter at Umpqua Community College
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Lucy Schouten Staff
It started with the police officer in charge.
"I will not name the shooter. I will not give him the credit he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act," Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin told media after a shooting at an Oregon college Thursday, CNN reported.
Many have followed Sheriff Hanlin's lead and avoided using the name of the shooter who killed 10 and injured seven at Umpqua Community College. Instead, they are focusing on the army veteran who was shot seven times trying to protect others: Chris Mintz.
After leaving the school with other students, Mr. Mintz ran back into the building, witness Hannah Miles told ABC News.
"He ran to the library and pulled the alarms and he was telling people to run, grabbing people, telling them, 'You just have to go,' " she said.
While most students and teachers ran from the shooter, Mintz approached the shooter unarmed. He tried to stop him at the door while shielding his classmates with his body, USA Today reported. Mintz was shot repeatedly, but even after falling to the ground he tried to reason with the shooter.
The gunman shot him again.
A hospital spokeswoman reports that Mintz was shot a total of seven times, and that he is in recovery and talking.
"I'm just worried about everyone else," he told ABC News.
After numerous requests, a GoFundMe account was created to pay for Mintz's medical expenses. Mintz's cousin, Derek Bourgeois, originally requested $10,000. In just 24 hours, more than $595,000 has been donated.
"While Chris is not the type of person to ask for it, he is going to need all of the help he can get while he recovers!" wrote Mr. Bourgeois.
Many social media users and news reports have seized on the idea of trying to ignore the shooter's name while making #ChrisMintz trend.
A month earlier, US soldiers on a train in France charged a would-be shooter and prevented further violence. Three off-duty soldiers touring Europe observed a man enter a train car, armed and preparing to shoot, the Christian Science Monitor's Husna Haq reported. The soldiers tackled the man, pulled the guns from his grasp, and tied him up.
"Specialist Skarlatos's actions that day epitomize what we mean by a soldier of character – one who lives by a personal code where dedication to duty and taking care of others is sacred," Secretary of the Army John McHugh said at the time.
