Army Veteran Chris Mintz Charged Umpqua Shooter, Getting Shot Seven Times

Weirdly, Alex Skarlatos was supposed to be attending Umpqua Community College yesterday, but he's on Dancing With the Stars, due to his fame after having subdued the Thalys gunman in France.*

So he wasn't there.

But another hero stood up in his place.

A heroic student charged at the Oregon college shooter and was shot seven times as he tried to save his classmates, his family said.

Army veteran Chris Mintz, 30, was taken to hospital following the massacre at Umpqua Community College on Thursday morning.

His cousin Derek Bourgeois told DailyMail.com that Mintz faced Chris Harper-Mercer, 26, who killed at least 10 people at the school in Roseburg.

‘I was told he went after the shooter,’ Bourgeois told DailyMail.com.

‘There was no way he was going to stand around and watch something this horrific happen.’

Miraculously, all seven of the shots missed vital organs (and nerves) and he's expected to recover.

However, the hail of bullets broke both his legs.

* It should be pointed out that France has much more gun control than the US, and yet the Thalys train gunman had an assault rifle and a pistol.

The Hero Speaks: Video at Hot Air.

I don't think this is on video, but Mintz said:

"I just hope that everyone else is OK," he told ABC News this morning.

"I'm just worried about everyone else."

posted by Ace at 12:35 PM

| Access Comments