President Donald Trump has praised the Indiana science teacher and former college football player, Jason Seaman, 29, who tackled an armed student inside his classroom and stopped a school shooting in Friday morning despite being shot several times
President Donald Trump has praised the Indiana science teacher and former college football player who tackled an armed student inside his classroom and stopped a school shooting in Friday morning despite being shot several times.
‘Thanks to very brave Teacher & Hero Jason Seaman of Noblesville, Indiana, for his heroic act in saving so many precious young lives. His quick and automatic action is being talked about all over the world!’ tweeted the President.
Vice President Mike Pence, the former governor of Indiana, also credited the teacher’s ‘courageous action’ for saving lives during the shooting at the suburban Indianapolis school.
‘We’re all proud of you Jason and are praying for you and those impacted and recovering from injuries,’ Pence said in his own tweet.
One of 29-year-old Jason Seaman’s students at Noblesville West Middle School said another student entered the classroom with a gun and started shooting Friday morning.
President Trump on Saturday hailed the heroism of an Indiana science teacher who stopped a shooting inside his classroom
President Trump tweeted his thanks to the science teacher who bravely sprang into action during a shooting at an Indiana middle school on Friday
Jason Seaman was a defensive end for the SIU football team. Now a science teacher at Noblesville West Middle School in Noblesville,he subdued a student armed with two handguns
Seaman is pictured here with his proud parents who must feel even prouder this weekend
People are caught on camera comforting one another after hearing about the shooting
The 29-year-old teacher ‘immediately ran at him, swatted a gun out of his hand and tackled him to the ground,’ said seventh-grader Ethan Stonebraker.
Seaman was shot three times but was in good condition at an Indianapolis hospital following the shooting in nearby Noblesville, according to police.
The only other person shot, student Ella Whistler, was in critical but stable condition, according to her family said. Her family released a statement saying they were still trying to process ‘what happened and why.’
Stonebraker, the student witness, said the shooter was acting suspiciously when he walked into the classroom while the class was taking a test.
He told ABC News that his teacher threw a basketball at the shooter and ran toward the bullets as screaming students sought cover behind a table.
‘If it weren’t for him, more of us would have been injured for sure,’ the seventh grader said.
Seaman’s brother, Jeremy Seaman, told The Indianapolis Star that his brother was shot three times and underwent surgery. He said his brother was conscious after the shooting and talked with his wife, telling her he was OK.
Seaman, who is married with two young children, thanked first responders in a statement.
‘First of all, thank you to the first responders from Noblesville and Fishers for their immediate action and care,’ Seaman said. ‘I want to let everyone know that I was injured but am doing great. To all students, you are all wonderful and I thank you for your support. You are the reason I teach.’
Law enforcement officers walk outside the school. A male student opened fire at the suburban Indianapolis school wounding another student and a teacher before being taken into custody
Ella Whistler, 13, was shot in a classroom Friday at Noblesville West Middle School near Indianapolis. Whistler’s family released a statement late Friday night saying she was doing well at a local hospital but remains in critical condition
He said his brother was a defensive end for Southern Illinois University’s football team and had never been a person to run away.
Investigators say the shooter had asked to be dismissed from the class before returning with two guns.
He was arrested ‘extremely quickly’ following the shooting around 9 a.m. Friday, local police Chief Kevin Jowitt said.
Authorities didn’t release the student’s name or say whether he had been in trouble before but indicated he likely acted alone. Police said the student didn’t appear to be injured.
Stonebraker said he knew the suspected gunman. He described him as ‘a nice kid most of the times’ and said he often joked with the classmates.
‘It’s just a shock he would do something like that,’ Stonebraker said.
Hours after the shooting, law enforcement agents sealed off part of an upscale neighborhood in Noblesville but weren’t commenting on whether the suspect lived there.
Sandy McWilliams, a member of a landscaping crew working nearby, said six officers toting assault rifles entered a home.
Students and parents say Seaman, a seventh-grade science teacher and football coach, intervened as a student opened fire in his classroom Friday morning
Seaman remained in the hospital Friday night, but police said he was in ‘good’ condition
Noblesville Police Lt. Bruce Barnes talks to reporters during a news conference regarding the school shooting at Noblesville West Middle School
The shooting happened on Friday in Indiana
Students were bused to the Noblesville High School gym, where hundreds of parents and other family members arrived to retrieve them.
Authorities referred to a prompt and heroic response at the school but didn’t confirm accounts of Seaman tackling the student or describe the role of the resource officer who was stationed at the school.
When asked to elaborate on his praise of the response, Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said: ‘Wait ’til one day we can tell you that story. You’ll be proud of them, too.’
The attack came a week after a shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, that killed eight students and two teachers, and months after the high school attack that killed 17 people in Parkland, Florida.
The Florida attack inspired students there and across the country to call for more restrictions on access to guns.