Two of the Chardon High School Heroes: Coach Frank Hall and Mr. Joseph Ricci

The stories about this terrible past Monday, February 27, 2012, at Chardon High School are becoming somewhat clearer. The final toll seems to be three dead (Danny Parmertor, Russell King, and Demetrius Hewlin); one released from the hospital (Joy Rickers); one still hospitalized with severe spinal cord trauma (Nick Walczak). And that is not to mentioned Nate Mueller, grazed by a bullet on his right ear, and the hundreds of students, teachers, school workers, firefighters, police, ambulance personnel, helicopter personnel, and hospital workers involved. The ripples go further: the families, friends, Chardon alumni--even reaching to the Governor of Ohio, John Kasich, who attended the Wednesday evening prayer vigil at St. Mary's, and President Obama, who phoned the Chardon High School principal. All deeds, good and evil, have these ripple effects.

Coach Frank Hall, one of the heroes of this tragedy, spoke yesterday at a press conference held in front of the high school. Coach Hall is fairly young, a big man, not a polished public speaker. But his short speech yesterday was one of the most beautiful and eloquent I have ever heard. One of his remarks was so poignant: "To the families of Danny, Demetrius, and Russell, I want you to know that I was with them. I prayed with them. I wiped their tears. And I want you to know God was with them."

Coach Hall accompanied these boys in their final terrifying journey. It's often the hardest and best thing a human being can do.

Of course coach Hall didn't even mention the other astonishing thing he did: he chased the gunman, who was shooting at him, out of the building. Astonishing, almost reckless courage!

I also heard that Mr. Joseph Ricci, a math teacher at the high school that two of my daughters had had, was also a hero. Apparently the gunman, T.J. Lane, chased Nick Walczak down a hallway, shooting him three times, in the back, the neck, and the head. Mr. Ricci went out of the classroom where he and his students were barricaded, pulled Nick into the safety of the room, and offered what first aid he could as they awaited ambulances.

So many stories are circulating; some will prove true and some will prove false. It does seem that T.J. Lane might have been traumatized and abused as a young boy. And there is a story out there about a triggering event, where T.J was rightly told that he was no longer to see a girl younger than himself. Still, the mysteries may never unravel--neither the mystery of such a crime, nor the mystery of such heroism.

One final thought: beginning tomorrow, the funerals for the three boys will take place at my church, St. Mary's Chardon. The mother of the second boy to die, Phyllis Ferguson, found out about the shooting as she attended morning mass at St. Mary's. This past Wednesday, a vigil service was held at St. Mary's; thousands of people came and even the governor spoke. St. Mary's is playing a key role in the healing of our town.

The Chardon High School Shooting

This morning at 7:50 a.m. I was driving through Chardon Square; about a quarter of a mile away, a student (alleged to be T.J. Lane) was running away after shooting 5 classmates in the Chardon High School cafeteria; one boy, Daniel Parmertor, lay mortally wounded on the cafeteria floor; two other boys, Russell King and Demetrius Hewlin, were critically wounded, and a couple other students had less serious wounds (Nate Mueller was the name of a boy grazed on his right ear; Nickolas Walczak has spinal cord trauma--his life was saved by math teacher Joseph Ricci; a girl was also wounded and has now been released from the hospital). The 911 call went to the police at 7:38 a.m. and shortly after that reports were on the radio stations. I listened to 100.7 FM as I drove to work as someone described ambulances coming to the local Walmart store and as a medical helicopter landed to evacuate seriously wounded kids to Metro Hospital in Cleveland. That's when I knew it was bad--Metro has a trauma ER unit that sees the most serious cases in the area. As it happened, one student died at Metro; two others are in very serious condition--and we pray that they survive. [We learned the next day that these two boys, Russell King and Demetrius Hewlin, died from their wounds].

My nephew Dillon Coughlin was in the cafeteria when the shooting took place. If I heard the story right, Dillon led classmates into an adjacent room, where they barricaded the door with a piano. There were many courageous and even heroic actions at the high school. I hear that a teacher (it might have been Coach Frank Hall) was involved in chasing after the shooter and comforting the severely wounded students. Other teachers (Mr. Joseph Ricci is one), janitors, and students acted heroically--we may never know all their names. Teachers and other school workers have the instincts of parents--they will risk their own lives to save their students.

From everything I have heard, it seems that teachers, administrators, and police handled this terrible situation correctly. Now all adults in the area must help the children, teachers, police, rescue workers and others involved process this tragedy. There can be a delayed reaction and PTSD in situations like this.

Everyone who lives in the Chardon area will know someone involved in this shooting. My daughter was friends with the aunt of the alleged shooter. The dead boy lived in my brother Jim's neighborhood. This is a small and tight community. We all share in the tragedy. We will pray for everyone tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. at St. Mary's Church.