A middle-aged mathematics teacher found himself in the line of gunfire Monday morning as he tried to protect his students from a young shooter.
Another American educator has been killed protecting his students from the line of gunfire.
On Monday morning, Michael Landsberry, a 45–year-old mathematics teacher, was fatally shot by a 12-year-old student who opened fire at Sparks Middle School in Nevada. Two students were wounded during the incident but are expected to survive. The motive is still unknown.
Landsberry, a National Guardsman and former marine, confronted the young shooter on the basketball court before shielding his pupils from the bullets. The trained professional had served two tours in Afghanistan with the Nevada National Guard, according to a Today Show report.
Officials declared Landsberry a “hero” as he became yet another educator to risk—and lose—his life protecting his pupils.
The country has witnessed 12 active-shooter situations so far in 2013, a number that has tripled since the beginning of the century. There was an annual average of five active-shooting incidents between 2000 and 2008.
Just hours after the incident took place in Sparks, Nev., Attorney General Eric Holder told police chiefs from across the country at a conference in Philadelphia that these kinds of incidents rose dramatically in the last few years. He called for enhanced equipment and officer training.
“It’s become clear that new strategies and aggressive national response protocols must be employed to stop shooters in their tracks,” Holder told officers on Monday during the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police conference.