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Hero Principal Stops School Shooting [VIDEO]

(Photo: Scott Davidson/Creative CommonsFlickr)

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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Gunfire erupted at Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, S.D., around 10 am Wednesday, and one faculty member rushed toward the sound of the carnage to stop it.

Assistant principal Ryan Rollinger, a former football coach and player, took the shooter down to the ground, and restrained him before he could shoot more people, the Argus Leader reports.

Harrisburg School District superintendent Jim Holbeck credits Rollinger’s actions for saving other students.

“You really never know what this student would have done if they hadn’t confronted him,” Holbeck said, according to the Argus Leader. “If he already shot once, who knows?”

The shooter entered the high school where he shot principal Kevin Lein with a handgun after a struggle. That’s when Rollinger rushed to the scene to restrain the shooter with the help of activities director Joey Struwe.

Lein was released from the hospital later in the day and is expected to be fine. Holbeck said he had spoken with Lein and described him as being in “very good spirits.”

Harrisburg School Board President Mike Knudson is describing as all three men involved as heroes.

“Dr. Kevin Lein is a hero. Ryan Rollinger is a hero. Joey Struwe is a hero,” he said. “Hug your children. Thank your children’s teachers and administrators for all they do.”

Police are very aware of the fact that this satiation could have been a lot worse if Rollinger, Struwe, and Lein had not stopped it. Sioux Falls Police spokesman Sam Clemens said all the kids were safe and ultimately that was really “the main message here.”

As of Thursday morning, the shooter had been charged with attempted murder.

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