Math Teacher, David Benke, Hero in Colorado School Shootings...Goes From Bus Duty to Disarming a Gunman

Schools are dangerous places today.Ever since the terrible tragedy at Columbine High School in 1999, school shootings are becoming all too common. We are no longer shocked when we hear that someone got a gun onto school property and injured or killed a student or faculty member.

Gone are the days when kids just said goodbye to their parents and went to school. Today, despite elaborate school safety programs that try to prevent the "unthinkable" from happening, every so often something deadly occurs.

It happened again this week in Littleton, Colorado at the Deer Creek Middle School, less than 3 miles from Columbine High School, the scene of the terrible massacre in 1999, when 12 students and 1 teacher were killed and 23 others were wounded. .

Deer Creek Middle School is a Blue Ribbon School which means it is one of the best in the area. Two eighth grade students, a girl and a boy were shot just as school was letting out for the day. One student suffered minor injuries, but the other remains in critical condition but is expected to survive.

The students said they were leaving school when they were approached by a man who asked them, "Do you guys go to this school?" When they answered yes they did, he shot them.

It could have been a lot worse if it was not for math teacher Dr. David Benke, 58. Benke was outside on bus duty when he heard the first shot which he first thought was a fire cracker. He headed toward the sound ready to reprimand the noise maker when he saw a man firing a rifle. Students were screaming.

Benke who has martial arts training, charged the gunman as he was reloading. He tackled him to the ground and subdued him. The gunman was able to get off another shot which hit the second student. Benke apologized to the student later saying he was sorry he hadn't been there faster, and promised to tutor him when he was feeling better.

Despite better post Columbine safety measures. The gunman, unemployed ranch hand Bruco Strong Eagle Eastwood 32, was able to enter and leave the school a few hours before he went on his shooting rampage .He said he was a former student at the school, signed in, walked around the school, chatted with teachers, signed out and left the building, He returned a few hours later with a rifle just as school was getting out.

He was later jailed on $1million bail and charged with attempted murder. His father said the son had a long history of mental illness and just recently began to hear voices.

Dr. Benke is being applauded for his courage and bravery in preventing a situation which could have been so much worse. He had received post Columbine training in school safety, but somehow a gunman was able to get in and out of the school and later come back with a rifle

Stronger and better school safety measures must be developed. It is inexcusable that today, children need to be in fear of their lives every time they go to school. We know it will happen again, we just don't know where or when.

Sources:CNN News

Healthbeat by Deirdre Cox

Yahoo, news