One of the men hailed as a hero in the Umpqua Community College shooting made his first major public statement since the Oct. 1 massacre in Oregon in a lengthy post on his Facebook page Friday, the Oregonian reports. In the post, 30-year-old Army veteran Chris Mintz says he hesitated to make a statement on what happened that day because he didn't want to hurt anyone affected by the shooting, which left nine people dead and another nine—including Mintz—wounded. " I knew this would be a painful piece for a lot of people, and it bothers me to bring the pain to others." Ultimately, he says he decided to give his account of events to help the community heal.
Mintz was in a neighboring classroom when he heard yelling and gunshots, he writes in his post. As people were fleeing, he volunteered to warn students in the library nearby. After warning multiple people of the shooting, he headed back to the classroom where the victims were. "I could only see one of the students through the door, she was screaming and yelling and covered in blood," he writes. As he was listening to sirens getting closer, he says the shooter opened a nearby classroom door and shot him. "He was so nonchalant through it all, like he was playing a video game and showed no emotion," he writes. Mintz, who confessed to the shooter it was his son's birthday, was shot five times. He says the shooter then ducked back into a classroom as the first officers arrived. Read Mintz's full account here. (More Umpqua Community College stories.)
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