Nevada School Shooting: Slain Teacher Was Former Marine - East Idaho News
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Nevada School Shooting: Slain Teacher Was Former Marine

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ht michael landsberry ll 131021 16x9 992?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1382430817945Remembering Mr. Michael Landsberry/Facebook(SPARKS, Nev.) — A middle school math teacher was shot dead Monday morning while shielding students from a boy with a gun in a Nevada middle school.

Two students, both 12, were also shot and wounded before the boy with the gun was killed.  The shooter, who has not been identified, had a self-inflicted gunshot wound; police said they did not fire any shots.

The slain teacher was identified by his family as Michael Landsberry, a former U.S. Marine.

“In my estimation he’s a hero,” Reno’s Deputy Police Chief Tom Robinson said at a news conference.

Chanda Landsberry, the slain teacher’s sister-in-law, told ABC News that he left behind a wife, Sharon, and two stepdaughters.

The two wounded boys were taken to Renown Regional Medical Center and were initially listed in critical condition, hospital spokeswoman Angela Rambo told ABC News.  They are now both in stable condition.

Witnesses said the suspect first opened fire at Sparks Middle School on the basketball court, where he shot a boy in the arm.

“I heard the first shot,” a student named Jonathan told the Reno Gazette-Journal.  “I looked over and saw a kid, my best friend, laying on the ground shot in the arm.”

At that point, students said Landsberry rushed in to try and stop the boy from shooting anyone else.  The suspect told Landsberry to back up, and when he did, witnesses said he shot the math teacher in the chest.

While the shooter ran into a school building, where he hit another boy, Andrew Thompson, a student at the school, said he and his friends tried to save Landsberry.

“Me and five other friends said, ‘Come on, we have to get him to safety,'” Thompson told ABC News’ Reno affiliate KOLO-TV.  “We picked him up, carried him a little bit far, and then left him because our vice principal came along and said, ‘Go, go, go!  Get to safety.’  So we left the teacher there and went to safety.”

Police said on Monday they are hoping to interview the estimated 20 to 30 witnesses who heard or saw gunfire and hope by talking to students they will be able to determine the suspect’s motive and whether he shot indiscriminately or was targeting specific victims.

“The best description is chaos,” Robinson said.

Administrators said school has been cancelled for the remainder of the week and grief counselors have been brought in to help students and staff cope with the ordeal.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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