Lately, it seems like whenever you turn on the television there is news of another devastating school shooting. According to Understanding School Violence, a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4% of kids had brought a gun to school within 30 days of being surveyed— a shocking statistic.
Recently, things have been tragic in Illinois, with CBS Miami reporting 5 school shootings within the past month, but one Illinois teacher has been praised as a hero after saving her students from a rogue gunman.
Angela McQueen has taught at Mattoon High School for the past 10 years while also acting as a school resource officer.
On the Mattoon High School website, Angela says she became a teacher to act as a positive inspiration.
She explains, “There are so many negative influences in the world. I wanted to provide a positive role model as well as try to make math fun and engaging for kids.”
On September 20th, 2017, however, Angela was more of a positive influence than she could have ever imagined after single-handedly saving her students and fellow staff from a dangerous school shooter.
On the day in question, shots began being fired in the school cafeteria at approximately 11:30AM. When Angela heard the loud noises, she headed in the same direction to investigate— where she is shocked to discover a student unloading vicious bullets throughout the room.
Braeton Davis, a student, describes the scenario to CBS Miami, saying he was grazed by a bullet. “That’s when I looked left, and I saw the person holding the gun, and they fired 3 to 5 more shots.”
When seeing the gunman, Angela acted quickly, saving the day by taking him down— a courageous act which allowed her students and coworkers to flee.
Alex Perry, another student, tells CBS Miami, “[Angela] saw the gun come out, and she was going to tackle him, and which she did, and he still had his hand on the trigger and it was flying up and hitting the ceiling.”
According to reports, the gunman was finally disarmed by another school resource officer.
Jeff Branson, Mattoon Police Chief tells CNN, “Lives were saved by a quick response of a teacher here. If that teacher had not responded as quickly as they had, I think the situation would have been a lot different.”
As for her students, well they tell CNN, “Mrs. McQueen is like Chuck Norris, basically.”
“She’s the hero too.”
Amazing work, Angela!
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