A potential shooting at a Portland, Ore, high school was foiled Friday when a student armed with a shotgun was subdued and disarmed by the football coach.
The Portland Oregonian reports that Coach Keanon Lowe, who also works as a security guard at Parkrose High School, ended the threat when he disarmed the male student and took hiim to the ground.
“I’m just happy everyone was OK,” Lowe said as he walked out of the school’s fine arts building shortly after police had cleared the school. “I’m happy I was able to be there for the kids and for the community.”
The Associated Press reports that the suspect, Angel Granados Dias, 18, has been booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on suspicion of possessing a firearm in a public building, attempting to shoot a gun at a school and reckless endangerment.
Parkrose School District Superintendent Michael Lopes Serrao, in a letter to the community, praised two students for coming forward and telling a school staff member about troubling behavior from another student.
Witnesses say Dias subsequently appeared in the doorway of a classroom in a trench coat and pulled out a long gun from beneath his coat.
The student didn’t point the gun at anyone; some classmates screamed and others ran out.
“At some point, a staff member at the high school confronted him,” police said in a statement. “A Portland Police School Resource Officer and other officers arrived and immediately entered the school and found the staff member detaining the subject in the hallway.”
Lowe is a former star wide receiver for the University of Oregon Ducks. The 2018-19 football season was his first as Parkrose’s football coach.
Several seniors on the football team described Lowe as a genuine, selfless coach who inspired his players and changed the program’s culture.
Lowe was effective not only as coach but also as the school’s security guard – getting students to listen by treating everyone with respect, says Tim Shichalin, 18.
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