Army veteran Chris Mintz is being hailed as a hero after protecting fellow students during the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College.
According to family members, Mintz was shot multiple times while trying to prevent the gunman from gaining access to his classroom.
"He was on the wrestling team and he's done cage-fighting, so it does not surprise me that he would act heroically," an aunt told NBC News.
Mintz, 30, is recovering from his injuries in the hospital and is expected to survive. Thursday was reportedly his fourth day of classes at the school after serving in the Army for 10 years.
A status update was posted to his Facebook account Friday morning which said, “This is Chris's friend, Chris asked me to thank everyone for their support, he is grateful and keeping our community and all victims in his thoughts.”
Story by Tony Manfred, editing by Stephen Parkhurst
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