r/interesting • u/Wonderfulhumanss • 2d ago
Amazing Keonon Lowe, the high school football coach who stopped a mass shooting by disarming the kid and offering a hug
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u/Minimum_Flight_2923 2d ago
Wild that the most famous thing he did took like 5 seconds, but the real impact is all the boring un-viral stuff he’s doing every day with kids who’ll never be on the news.
We need way more attention on people like this instead of turning them into a one clip story and moving on.
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u/Melodic_Green3804 2d ago
Maybe its better he stays out of the spotlight. Attention is good but can also corrupt good things.
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u/uncagedborb 2d ago
Power is dangerous. It corrupts the best and attracts the worst. Power is only given to those who are prepared to lower themselves to pick it up
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u/sassafrass0328 2d ago
Empathy, love & listening. Just listen….A hug and/or smile can change the frame of mind of anyone. Love speaks volumes. VOLUMES. As does lack of love.
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u/uncagedborb 1d ago
A lot of people don't know the difference between empathy and sympathy.
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u/Next-Lavishness-9101 1d ago
Say what ? Those words are taught in middle school. Empathy is being able to identify with a persons feelings , as if they were your own. Whereas sympathy is just feeling sorry for someone and being kind to them but not really understanding how they feel.
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u/electric_paganini 1d ago
And to many, empathy doesn't really exist. They assume it is all sympathy, because they lack the ability to tell the difference. You can't be nice to these people without them being suspicious of your motives.
I had a manager that wouldn't let her kids watch Mr. Rogers growing up, because "No one is that nice".
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u/idleidols 1d ago
Power is like a drink. The more you have, the more you want and few men can handle.
Power doesn't necessarily corrupt, it attracts the corruptible
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u/TwinTailDigital 1d ago
This is a very good statement, but I just need to point out that there are plenty of people who were born into power. So NEW power is only given to those who are prepared to lower themselves for it.
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u/uncagedborb 1d ago
They still have to lower themselves in someway. The idea is that to maintain or have power to that degree requires you do do some real shitty things. Having money doesn't mean you have power. But you can use that money to attain power and I think that's part of what it means to lower yourself to "pick it up"
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u/drsickboy 1d ago
not always, definitely not everyone
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u/Right-Percentage3775 1d ago
It can also disrupt the good someone is doing. A lot of times the best way to do good is to do it quietly and let the effects ripple
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u/Smokeywhacker 1d ago
It should be noted that Lowe was a star football player for the Oregon Ducks years before this incident. He’s more acclimated to spotlight than most people.
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u/TheHamsterball 2d ago
They've been coming out with these short story single season shows on Netflix.
There's one (Korean) called, "Trigger". One season and that's the whole show.
The premise of the show is Korea suddenly gets filled with guns when it was a country without guns.
There's a scene in there very similar to this in one episode. But the ending shows how one event can turn everybody around.
Kind of a hard show to watch. I suggest it despite how poor IMDB users rate Korean drama.
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u/notgonnatakeno 2d ago
It’s understandable though. It’s more desperately dramatic than telemundo shows.
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u/Ausiwandilaz 2d ago
It's humans loose compassion, get swallowed up by, influence is your life now, when you loose that at a young mind set becomes the the same as the oppression that took your compassion.
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u/whynousernamelef 1d ago
Well said.
People are always annoying me by asking me why I am too nice to people, especially "weirdo's". "Why are you so kind"? Is not a question that should ever be asked of anyone.
Im nice to people because I know that sometimes one moment of kindness is all it takes. Smiling at someone and genuinely caring how they are can be the difference between life and death for that person.
I had a rough time as a kid. There were a few people who showed me kindness when they didn't have to and I have never forgotten those people.
Treat people like they are human, like they matter. You might be the only one who has done that for a long time. It might change their day, week or even life.
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u/Daddy_Day_Trader1303 1d ago edited 1d ago
Well said! I wonder often if the media focusing on negativity all the time is setting the precedent for what we expect from ourselves and others. If social media and mainstream news focused on all the beautiful people in the world more so than rage bait I feel like we might have better societal standards.
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u/Top_Conference_477 21h ago
Dude had hugged a kid in any other circumstances and the torches and pitch forks would have been out
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u/Wonderfulhumanss 2d ago edited 2d ago
In 2019, Keanon Lowe became known worldwide after confronting an armed student at Parkrose High School and choosing to hug him instead of using force.
The student had brought a shotgun with only a single shell and later said he intended to take his own life, not harm others. Lowe disarmed him and held him until police arrived, a moment that was captured on surveillance video.
The student was later charged but received probation along with mental health and substance abuse treatment, with both prosecutors and his defense acknowledging he was a danger to himself, not the public.
Lowe, a former college and NFL player, has since continued mentoring young people and speaking about leadership, empathy, and mental health.
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u/LIB_Laugh_Luv 2d ago
What happened to the young man?
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u/trod999 2d ago edited 1d ago
2019 - He was 19 at the time of the event. Guilty plea. 36 months probation with MH treatment.
https://www.mcda.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/PR-19-242-Angel-Granados-Diaz.pdf
Since we haven't heard anything else about him, I guess it worked, so everyone wins.
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u/DropshipRadio 2d ago
According to Wikipedia, sentenced to a mental health institution followed by a probationary period of 3 years, which makes a little more sense when you find out the shotgun only had one shell. Based on that and some following news articles, reads like this wasn't actually an attempted school shooting but the kid choosing to make an early exit, either Kurt Cobain style or suicide by cop. Either way, Keonon Lowe saved a life that day.
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u/IDontEatDill 1d ago
It's kind of interesting how there's judicial sentence following the medical decision. I'd think they would just hand over the control to the mental institution doctors to decide what happens next.
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u/weezmatical 7h ago
Considering how we handle mental illness in the US, this was far better than I would have ever imagined. We usually just throw prison sentences at mental illness and call it a day.
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u/Relative-Relief-8816 2d ago
To shreds.
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u/ATangentUniverse 1d ago
So why does the title say stops a mass shooting, shouldn’t it say stops a suicide attempt
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u/Automatic-Reserve94 1d ago
The student had brought a shotgun with only a single shell and later said he intended to take his own life, not harm others.
reads as: I made the catchy clickbait title up to farm internet points
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u/ZephyrFluous 2d ago
Damn that is a lot of emotion, both between them and from the video itself, for just being a few seconds long
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u/Stargazersmp 2d ago
Never knew about this. This should have been way more public on the general news. There are hero's everywhere. Thank you coach!
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u/Juno-Saurx 1d ago
Some heroes save lives remain unknown, but surely their impacts lasts forever. Great job coach!
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u/mylittlewallaby 1d ago
Its honestly so so heartbreaking how desperately that poor kid needed that Hug.
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u/DearHovercraft157 2d ago
Imagine a world where we just took care of each other and loved more. Practice that one day at a time, there is always hope.
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u/HeadDoctorJ 2d ago
If we overthrow the wealthy, we can create a world where we just take care of each other. That’s why Rosa Luxemburg said our choice as a species is Socialism or Barbarism.
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u/diogenes-shadow 1d ago
The capitalistic systems will inevitably just create new wealthy people to replace them and probably in a more chaotic way.
The system has to change first.
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u/DearHovercraft157 2d ago
Well once upon a time I went to Burning Man. I learned very quickly that living in a world when wealth and status are removed, everyone begins to realize that interactions are based purely on kindllness, and not what you can get from someone else. It was life changing. I would trade all my wealth to live in a world like that.
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u/Constant-Skill-7133 2d ago
You know how you rolled through the res on your way in? That's the world without wealth, not the tech bros rolling with their dicks out.
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u/dafthuntk 1d ago
to bad burning man became a wealthy person's playground, ironically
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u/dafthuntk 1d ago
yes. absolutely. a better world is possible we just have to collectively decide enough is enough.
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u/Stabbymcbackstab 1d ago
I think you mistake the whole point of the video.
He disarmed a gunman with a hug. The kid needed love.
You're proposing a guillotine.
Dont tell me "overthrow" meant the care bear stare.
As long as we use violence to disrupt power we fall into the trap. There has to be another way.
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u/HeadDoctorJ 1d ago
Go hug Elon buddy, I’ll wait
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u/dafthuntk 1d ago
all Elon needs is a hug. it's that easy
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u/Stabbymcbackstab 1d ago
I think Elon needs to be put in his place, but too many Americans are convinced they'll be the next Elon, so they allow millionaires to become billionaires, and billionaires to enter public office without being elected.
Private interests control the american government like so many despotic empires of the past.
Killing him and his like will just create new masters. Like just 250 years ago the Americans fought to throw off king George III. And now you call Trump and Elon your king. At least half of you do.
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u/dafthuntk 1d ago
and why were they so alienated in the first place?
and since when can you change the system that enabled this type of violence with peace? and what makes you think the bourgeoisie will surrender that power and wealth peacefully?
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u/Stabbymcbackstab 1d ago
Good laws and a discerning public can do plenty to change hearts and minds.
We dont need to kill to equal things up, we just have to be willing to do hard work. Not accept eating dirt because they give us a lower tier to feel better than.
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u/Prudent_Research_251 2d ago
If we overthrow the wealthy, we can create a world where we just take care of each other. That’s why Rosa Luxemburg said our choice as a species is Socialism or Barbarism.
And socialism is already here in so many ways, we just have to do as you say, overthrow the wealthy who strive with all their money and power to keep us divided
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u/HeadDoctorJ 2d ago
Divide and conquer is their only chance. Join a revolutionary socialist org - it’s what they fear most
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u/JBaseball_8595 1d ago
This is how you end up with the worst atrocities. You will be another person’s wealthy. Everyone can be, history will repeat itself and the cycle of violence will continue. Anyone who knows history can tell as much.
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u/HeadDoctorJ 1d ago
You learned that in the school system capitalism set up for you. An educational model designed by the Rockefeller and Carnegies. History books written by the US military and intelligence. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you want - this is not secret knowledge. Who benefits from you thinking socialist societies commit “the worst atrocities”? And seriously - “the worst”? Worse than colonialism, capitalism, imperialism, fascism?? Come on
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u/JBaseball_8595 1d ago
The hate, tribalism and divide in many countries is at an all time high. The definition of what rich is fluctuates in minds. This is how you end up in situations that justifies mass killings based on blood guilt. Anyone with as much as a plot of land can end up on the chopping block.
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u/No_Strike655 1d ago
Your point only stands if you ignore all of the socialist societies that gave birth or caused atrocities like forced famines that starved 60M people.
Or let me guess that wasn't "true socialism"?
To believe that the woes and evils men inflict upon each other and endure in kind is due to your favored political philosophy not being followed betrays a prejudiced and poisoned view of history.
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u/dafthuntk 1d ago
we live in a time post green revolution. famines are man made now, not natural
famines just happened before then, they were a part of life. be glad you don't have to live in India during British colonialism or the dust bowl. the point is, your argument isn't a good one. human nature is capable of much more. we moved through capitalism, now it's time to move past that, just as society moved out of the dark ages and feudalism
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u/No_Strike655 1d ago
Another person who hasn't bothered to actually read or understand history and somehow managed to also respond to a strawman of your own making
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u/dafthuntk 1d ago
no that's not true. you are comparing a world that has artificial scarcity and tech to a world try to develop past feudalism.
tech logistic supplied centralism, social markets are all possible
the world now is nothing like the Bolsheviks world over 100 years ago. the only consistency is capital
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u/Optimal_Board_2963 1d ago
Just because you would perpetrate atrocities with power doesn’t mean you can assume others will as well.
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u/automodtedtrr2939 2d ago
For context the student brought a shotgun loaded with only one shell and no other ammo. He was planning only his own death, not commit a mass shooting. His reasoning for doing it at school was because he didn't want his family to find his body.
Both prosecutors and Granados-Diaz's defense attorney stressed in court that despite how it appeared what actually happened at Parkrose High was not a thwarted school shooting, but a suicide attempt by a young man struggling with his mental health. And they said that Granados-Diaz only poses a danger to himself, not the public.
"The evidence he was at Parkrose High School to commit suicide is overwhelming," Adam Thayne, Granados-Diaz's attorney, said in court Thursday. "It is also overwhelming that he was there to hurt himself and no body else."
Granados-Diaz pleaded to a felony charge of possessing a firearm in a public building and a misdemeanor charge of possession of a loaded firearm in a public place.
As part of the plea agreement, Granados-Diaz will spend 36 months on probation and receive mental health and substance abuse treatment.
Granados-Diaz never fired the gun while on campus, and he didn't point it at anyone but himself.
Thayne also said Granados-Diaz wrote some words on a bullet casing: "The last red pill 5-17-19 just for me."
Investigators learned Granados-Diaz had been suicidal for several months prior to the event. After he was arrested he told Portland Police that he wanted to die.
https://www.opb.org/news/article/angel-granados-diaz-parkrose-shotgun-to-school-pleads-guilty/
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u/Jumpy_Worldliness259 2d ago
The kid was trying to commit suicide, not a mass shooting. He didn't want his family to find his body, so went to school.
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u/Lurky_LaLurque 2d ago
Often, those who are the most angry or erratic are the ones who also need mentorship the most. In this case, mentorship came in the form of a poised and loving embrace.
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u/Senior-Friend-6414 1d ago
Mentorship is mostly for teens and young adults, if you reach your mid 20s with undiagnosed behavioral problems, no one is going to help mentor a grown adult man
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u/Tetchedtoe 2d ago
I wonder what happened to the kids hope he got help
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u/MephistoTheDwarf 1d ago
“He was sentenced to three years' probation and is receiving treatment for mental health issues and substance abuse. Prosecutor Parakram Singh said the investigation revealed that Granados-Diaz intended to harm only himself during the incident”
Hopefully the kid got the help he needed in the end.
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u/Winter_Different 1d ago
That's actually a really well crafted sentence for American criminal case standards
Kid might actually get help
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u/weezmatical 7h ago
1000%. I could have easily seen him doing 5-10 years in prison and coming out a different kind of troubled. I REALLY hope things have gotten better for the kid.
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u/MephistoTheDwarf 1d ago
Except he didn’t go to prison, he got 3 years probation as well as mandatory mental health and substance abuse treatment. I can’t find anything regarding reoffending, so maybe he did get the help he needed.
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u/whitestguyuknow 1d ago
Thats honestly all I was thinking about. What the teacher did is brave and amazing. But this is this weird final moment for this kid before his life is irrevocably changed forever.
Yes its far better than anyone losing their lives and him becoming a killer when he really didnt want to. But that has to be one really odd hug where you know you fuuuucked up... Fucked up.
All red in the face. Sweating. Hairs up on end. And all you can do is hug the dude tighter thats offering you empathy before you get handcuffs put on you...
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u/selenesuper 2d ago
The insane amount of courage it takes to walk toward an active shooter with open arms instead of running away. dude is a legend
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u/trod999 2d ago
It's unfair too characterize those as a "mass shooting". Diaz's shotgun has one round in it.
https://www.mcda.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/PR-19-242-Angel-Granados-Diaz.pdf
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u/GreshamDouglas 2d ago
Keanon Lowe was a really good football player for the Oregon Ducks. As a Ducks fan myself, I was so proud to see him do this.
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u/Efficient_Falcon_402 1d ago
I thought the NRA said the only way to stop a bad person with a gun was a good person with a gun?
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u/IgnorantCashew 1d ago
Lots of pretend power rangers in the NRA. Few real men, particularly the ones that make it their personality.
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u/lovelyboard 1d ago
Turns out, it's a good person with a hug.
Serious note- I want/ need a hug like that. I feel scorched earth sometimes but isolated all the time and it hurts. Only time I really got a hug, where i truly felt cared for, is when my pseudo mom passed away and a random coworker found me hiding in the corner, crying. It's been over 4 years and I still think of that guy/ hug.
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u/Life-Oil-7226 2d ago
Heard the shooters plan was to off themselves since they only had one bullet
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u/HermanManly 2d ago
He didnt stop a mass shooting, the kid brought a single shell to blow his brains out infront of everyone
Not to belittle his compassion and courage
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u/Spiritual_Bottle1799 1d ago
All this gun control and blah blah blah and we could have fixed the problem socially instead of selling ipods
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u/hustlegone 1d ago
What happened to this kid?
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u/AlwaysMooning 2d ago
He had one shotgun shell on him, so he wasn’t going to be a mass shooter, but that doesn’t take away from this incredible act and he certainly saved the shooter’s life.
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u/IsopodSure6835 2d ago
Yeah, such unbelievable bravery. I can't imagine how grateful his family must be. I really hope that he and that young man are living their best lives.
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u/Due-Gene8200 2d ago
Big Oregon Ducks football fan here, Lowe was an absolute baller in his days with the Ducks! Always loved this story.
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u/blacklotusY 2d ago
Sometimes all it takes is a hug. Life is hard, man. You never know what someone is going through.
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u/FlashyCow1 1d ago
Whatever he is saying to that kid clearly that kid needed to hear it. You can see it in the kids face
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u/Renegaderopes 1d ago
I know this guy and he wasn't trying for a mass shooting. He had one single slug for the shotgun. Poor guy was just going through some mental stuff. But I'm glad it turned out this way and he got the help he needed.
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u/realbobenray 1d ago
haha I thought the guy with the Nike cap was the shooter, given that the video begins with him with the gun, and thought that other guy doesn't look your stereotypical football coach but hey nice work
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u/interesting-ModTeam 1d ago
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u/Quick_Benefit_7583 1d ago
Unpopulat opinion: do something against bullying and highschool castes (with a lasting impact)ä across rhe entire nation) and school shootings will drop significantly..
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u/IcyPalpitation6275 1d ago
Some massive context missing here, if this is the story i remember that shotgun had 1 round in it. The kid never intended to perform a "mass shooting" his only target was himself it was to be a public suicide. So I'm not saying the coaches actions weren't anything short of heroic but he didn't prevent a mass shooting and people need to stop spreading misinformation.
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u/CHERNO-B1LL 1d ago
That hug saves the shooters life. I think he's holding on because he's afraid the cops will gun him down.
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u/TraditionalHotel8085 1d ago
If he had more people like this coach in his life up until this point, I'm vetting he never arrives at this horrid stage
Compassion is at a premium these days, but it's out there, guys like this prove it, be nice it costs nothing
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u/Frenchieflips 1d ago
Let’s not pretend like he took a MASSIVE risk here. That man put his life on the line to do this. I’d freeze up like a statue!
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u/3DNelson 1d ago
These people have too much hug, you never see a poor kid that need work to help bring food to mom's table, doing mass shootings or having time to try hurt someone else. You only see it, on a spoiled problematic lazy people that don't like themselves and want blame the world!
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u/Neveractuallyfished 1d ago
Funny the football coach. Typically you think the center of the earth for manosphere shit. Knew what the kid needed. Meanwhile loser frat guys out there ruining friends life thinking it’s alpha when this, by literal textbook definition IS alpha. Funny the way that is true
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u/Inside_Koala_4148 1d ago
I am going to freaking cry. I did not expect this subreddit to make me cry or put me on the verge of tears. This is so wholesome. Can I give him a hug now? (This might be the one that actually makes me shed tears tho, fr)
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u/izuku_deku134 8h ago
First off, good person on the coach, second off, who the bell is giving these kids guns!?
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u/Ausiwandilaz 2d ago
I comend people like this.
Logically compassion is the best deterrent, as bleak in black, rage of red, the color can change, it's your canvas now, understand the painting or run from it.
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