It is the Oregon school shooting that wasn’t. While the survelliance video is from last May, it has just been released to the public, and is now getting national attention.

The reason it didn’t make national headlines back in May is because no one was killed or injured, thanks to the heroic actions of Parkrose High School coach Keanon Lowe.

Extraordinary security video from Parkrose High School released Friday by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, showed the day last May when Parkrose High School student Angel Granados-Diaz brought a shotgun to school with the intent to kill himself.”

Lowe, the school’s security guard and football coach, was hailed as a hero for his actions that day. He disarmed the student, who was suffering from a mental health crisis, and took him into his arms.”

The video captured those emotional moments in one of the school’s hallways: Lowe hugs, consoles and talks with Granados-Diaz before police officers, with their guns drawn, arrive to take the teenager into custody.”

The video, while not of the best quality, is breathtaking. Watching it, you know that this ending could have been so, so different without Lowe’s intervention.

Lowe, a former Oregon Ducks football player, told the station that when the student entered the classroom with the weapon, he was close enough that he lunged for the gun and grabbed it with both hands.”

“Then it was just me and that student. It was a real emotional time. It was emotional for him, it was emotional for me,” he said back in May, according to KATU. “In that time, I felt compassion for him. A lot of times, especially when you’re young, you don’t realize what you’re doing until it’s over.”

Local Oregon media reported a little over a week ago that the student pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years’ probation. Why only probation? The shotgun was purchased legally (the student was 18 at the time of the purchase), and according to police reports, the student had only one round in the shotgun. This was not a planned mass shooting; this was an intended public suicide.

And now that the video is being seen nationally, the story of Lowe’s heroism is spreading beyond Oregon. But back in June, Lowe, a former San Francisco 49ers offensive analyst, told the story of why he returned to Oregon and became a coach, which put him in the right place at the right time to save this student’s life.

Lowe became a coach after his best friend died from an overdose. “I’m going to lead. How can I lead the community if I’m not there?” https://t.co/DNrEDQM5ED https://t.co/RFrQfmhsOB

— Jane Coaston (@cjane87) October 19, 2019

When so many of these stories ultimately have tragic endings, let’s be grateful for good men like Coach Keanon Lowe, who stepped in like other dedicated teachers have in this crisis moments, and this time brought about a peaceful ending. Good job, Coach. Well done.

Featured image via Pixabay, Pixabay license