Virginia Tech Student is Credited with Saving Lives

One course they don't teach in any college is "How To Be A Hero". However, a few students at the Virginia Tech. tragedy knew how to be a hero, and it may have saved up to eleven additional lives in the deadliest school shooting in United States history.

During the Virginia Tech tragedy the shooter came to the classroom containing and Zach Petkewicz and many other students. A few girls first saw the shooter walking down the hallway, the gun pointed down. When the girls saw this they slammed the door in horror, seeing someone with a gun out at school isn't your every day scenario. The girls went into a feared frenzy, as did all the other students as they heard the horrifying notification that someone wielding a gun was walking in their direction.

At first Zach Petkewicz and everyone cowered in fear of the shooter, but then an idea sparked in Zach Petkewicz's mind. The students had to do something, they couldn't sit and fear and hope for the best, they had to take the initiative for their survival, as well as their fellow peers' lives. Quick-thinking led to this heroic event, as Zach Petkewicz and two other highly heroic students shoved a large rectangular table in front of the door, barricading the door to stop the shooter from entering.

As common sense would tell us, a table won't stop bullets from entering though. Zach Petkewicz and the other two heroes had an idea. They would hold the door in place by standing to the side of the table to hold it, rather than remain in the center. This plan worked perfectly, as the shooter shot straight through the door, thinking that the people whom were holding the door were in the center. Zach Petkewicz and the heroes weren't shot thanks to this quick-thinking, and everyone's life in that room was essentially saved.

Zach Petkewicz rekindles our minds about the situation they were put in, and their heroic strategy when he said this to CNN:

"He came to our door, tried the handle and couldn't get in because we were pushing up against it -- and tried to force his way in and got the door to open up about 6 inches -- and then we just lunged at it and closed it back up and that's when he backed up and shot twice into the middle of the door, thinking we were up against it trying to get him out." (Zach Petkewicz to CNN)

For those of you who don't know already, the shooter was Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old English major that attended Virginia Tech himself. He has been described as a loner.

All in all, being a hero isn't easy. In this situation, Zach Petkewicz and the two other students put their lives at risk to save the other students and themselves. Such heights of bravery cannot be reached by most people due to imposing fear. Zach Petkewicz and the two others saved many more lives, and each and every one of the lives contained in that room, as well as in the world in general, is priceless.

Questions/comments? E-mail me at chem1calburn@yahoo.com or message me via Associated Content.