A science teacher at Noblesville West Middle School is being hailed as a hero for helping to stop a school shooting.
Jason Seaman was shot three times as he tackled a male student who opened fire with a handgun Friday morning at the Middle School. The former college football player at Southern Illinois University tweeted that he is in good condition after surgery at an Indianapolis hospital. Seaman was a defensive lineman for SIU. One of his students was also wounded. That student is a 13-year-old girl who remains in critical condition.
Seaman was a three-sport high school athlete in Mahomet, Illinois, which is located just west of Champaign. He is married with two young children.
The incident began when a male student asked to be excused from a classroom and he returned with two handguns. Police are not releasing any details about the suspect being held in the shooting. At a news conference on Friday, Noblesville Police Chief Kevin Jowitt said the shooting happened around 9 a.m. He said investigators believe the suspect acted alone.
The attack comes a week a shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, that killed eight students and two teachers, as well as months after the school attack in Parkland, Florida that killed 17 people. The Florida incident inspired students from that school and others throughout the country to call for more restrictions on access to guns.
NOTE: Information courtesy of Metro News, WISH, WLFI and the Associated Press.