Earlier this year, head football and track coach at Parkrose High School Keanon Lowe was declared a hero for reportedly tackling a student carrying a loaded firearm in school. But now, new footage shows that those reports were inaccurate. A CCTV clip has gone viral, showing that Lowe, in fact, did something much more heroic and admirable. He disarmed the student without being physically aggressive, and then hugged him.
According the Multnomah County District Attorney's office, per CNN, the student — identified as 18-year-old Angel Granados-Diaz — intended only to take his own life. In the video, Lowe is seen backing out of a classroom, with a shotgun in one hand, and ushering Granados-Diaz out with the other arm. After making it out into the hallway, he embraces the student, and hands the weapon to what looks to be another member of the school faculty.
Stunning surveillance footage captured the moment a high school coach in Oregon disarmed a student with a shotgun a… https://t.co/YVmpf7EbcK— ABC News (@ABC News) 1571500915.0
"In that time, I felt compassion for him," Lowe told KATU 2 at the time. "A lot of times, especially when you're young, you don't realize what you're doing until it's over." When the student broke down, Lowe said, "I let him know that I was there for him. I told him I was there to save him. I was there for a reason, and this is a life worth living."
Many online are sharing the powerful surveillance video online, with messages of hope and words of praise for Lowe — who also used to play as a standout wide receiver for the University of Oregon.
Newly released surveillance video shows the moment an Oregon school coach disarmed and hugged a shotgun-wielding st… https://t.co/E9TZxEcCMA— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa Milano) 1571519458.0
This is Keanon Lowe. He is a football and track coach at a high school in Oregon. Last May, a student came to sc… https://t.co/9MyB49vUJG— Andrew Pollack (@Andrew Pollack) 1571519440.0
This is powerful. The moment a high school coach in Oregon disarmed a student with a shotgun & then embraced him.… https://t.co/ZQz2zHh4d7— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@Qasim Rashid, Esq.) 1571513750.0
This is unbelievable...unreal...a high school coach from Oregon disarms a student with a shot gun and embraces him.… https://t.co/5Rn9WBoexe— EROCK (@EROCK) 1571506231.0
An Oregon high school football coach was able to disarm a student with a shotgun preventing a possible massacre by… https://t.co/XgjmJzSBcJ— StanceGrounded (@StanceGrounded) 1571517077.0
Last week, Granados-Diaz was tried and plead guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in a public building and one count of unlawful possession of a loaded firearm in public. He was then sentenced to three years of probation. And according to CNN, the district attorney's office also said that he "will receive mental health and substance abuse treatment."
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