Chardon Shooting 'Hero' Speaks Out Against Guns In Schools

COLUMBUS, OH – Chardon High School football coach Frank Hall was hailed a "hero" after he put a stop to a deadly shooting spree by a student six years ago. On Tuesday, he met with state lawmakers and urged them against arming teachers.

Six years ago, on Feb. 27, 2012, Hall was serving as a study hall monitor when student T.J. Lane went on a shooting spree, firing 10 shots from a .22-caliber pistol at students milling in the school cafeteria. Three of Lane's classmates were killed and three others injured.

Hall charged after Lane and chased from the school and into a nearby woods. Police later captured Lane. A year later, Lane pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison for each of the deaths.

Hall on Tuesday told lawmakers in Columbus that he is against arming teachers, saying had he been armed when the 2012 attack happened, he would not have "safely shot" Lane, much less kill him, reported The Columbus Dispatch.

“I’m thankful I didn’t take his life. I’m glad I could stop him, but I wouldn’t want to live with that.”

Hall, instead, favors a proposed bill for school resource officers and a $10 million school safety grant, the Dispatch reported. That message echos what Chardon school officials said five years ago ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Chardon shooting.

Then-Superintendent Joseph Bergant II and then-Chardon High School Principal Andy Fetchik both said they were against arming teachers.

In the attack, students Vincent "Danny" Parmertor, Demetrius C. Hewlin and Russell D. King Jr. were killed. Students Nick Walczak, Joy Rickers and Nate Mueller were wounded.

Image by Jeff Stacklin