Chris Mintz was shot multiple times by a gunman at an Oregon community college Thursday, and now he’s being called a hero, after it emerged that Mintz ran at the attacker and tried to block the door to a classroom and protect his classmates.
Advertisement
Mintz’s aunt Sheila Brown told NBC News that “he tried to protect a few people”.
Before and after his surgery, Mintz was conscious and told Skinner of the chaotic scene. “Many people are depraved in our society and he was ready to lay down his life for his friends”, Pine Grove Community Church Pastor Dennis Kreiss said. “We’ve all been sitting on pins and needles and praying very hard”.
Chris Mintz, 30, is now recovering in hospital, as the world celebrates his heroism in the midst of murderous madness at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore.
A second post added: “He is resting and in pain but smiling and the same ol Chris”.
After leaving the Army, Mintz began practicing mixed martial arts and was taking classes at Umpqua with the goal of becoming a certified fitness instructor.
Mintz has been in the military for at least 10 years and was in Oregon, primarily, to raise his son, according to his family. He now has rods in both legs and full casts up to his hips.
His mother said, “Crying and in shock you hear about this and you watch TV and you hear this, but when it happens to your family, you’re just on the floor”. But the people who really should be talked about are the heroes.
JBLM public affairs referred inquiries about Mintz to Army public affairs officials at the Pentagon, who have not been available for comment.
She said she spoke with her nephew briefly Friday morning.
Chris Mintz was in the Army, stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, then moved about nine years ago to a base in the West. He never saw combat, his aunt said.
She said he’s an athlete and was studying body building and nutrition.
Breed reported from Raleigh, North Carolina; AP reporter Alina Hartounian contributed from Phoenix.
The Daily Beast reports Chris Mintz’s cousin, Derek Bourgeois, said of the young father’s actions, “It sounds like something he would do”.
Advertisement
Gwaltney said he saw Mintz at the hospital as he was coming out of surgery.
