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World: Teacher tackles suspect in school shooting

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Original Post Date: 2010-02-25 Time: 06:00:02  Posted By: News Poster

By P Solomon Banda

Littleton, Colorado – A gunman walked through a middle school parking lot taking shots at students with a hunting rifle, wounding two students, as terrified teenagers ran for their lives, before a teacher tackled him.

Police said they aren’t immediately sure about what motivated 32-year-old Bruco Strong Eagle Eastwood to allegedly target Deer Creek Middle School just after classes had ended Tuesday.

Eastwood has an arrest record in Colorado dating back to 1996 for menacing, assault, domestic violence and driving under the influence, and he is believed to have a history of mental issues. The sheriff’s office says Eastwood is a former student of the school.
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The gunman seemed ready to unleash more violence when a math teacher named David Benke sprung into action.

Benke confronted the gunman, tackled him and pinned him to the ground with the help of another teacher, stopping what could have been a much more violent encounter in a city all too familiar with tragic school shootings. The shooting occurred in the same city where the Columbine High School massacre happened nearly 11 years ago.

“Unfortunately he got another round off before I could grab him,” Benke said. “He figured out that he wasn’t going to be able to get another round chambered before I got to him so he dropped the gun and then we were kind of struggling around trying to get him subdued.”

The two students survived Tuesday’s shooting and one remained hospitalized.

Meanwhile, Benke became a national hero. A Facebook page called “Dr David Benke Is A Hero!!!!” quickly grew to more than 14,000 members by Wednesday morning, and his actions were discussed on the floor of the state Senate.

Benke, a 6-foot-5 (1.96 meter) former college basketball player who oversees the school’s track team, was monitoring the parking lot in the afternoon when he heard what he thought was a firecracker and began walking toward the noise.

He said another teacher was quickly on the scene and both of them pinned the gunman to the ground. Eastwood was armed with a bolt-action rifle.

Investigators said Eastwood visited the school previously and was inside shortly before the shooting. He is expected to make his first court appearance Wednesday and may face at least two counts of attempted murder.

Investigators spent Wednesday interviewing school staff members in attempt to reconstruct the shooting, and they have found live rounds from the hunting rifle at several places on school grounds.

The sheriff’s department said Eastwood is an unemployed ranch hand and former student of the school who has been attending community college off and on in pursuit of his equivalency diploma for high school. The department said he was cooperative with during his interview with investigators.

A man who answered the phone Tuesday night at a number listed for Eastwood identified himself only as “Mr Eastwood” and said he was Bruco Eastwood’s father. He was at a loss for words.

“There’s nothing you can say about it. What can you say?” the man said. “Pretty dumb thing to do. I feel bad for the people involved.” He wouldn’t comment further. – Sapa-AP

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=nw20100224203631437C794162