Washington State high school teacher tackles suspected shooter

(Image credit: Twitter.com/drewmikk)

last updated 28 April 2015

On Monday morning, a teacher in Lacey, Washington, subdued a student shooter before anyone was injured, police said.

North Thurston High School government teacher Brady Olson tackled the 16-year-old suspected shooter after he fired a shot into the gym floor, then ran downstairs and fired into the cafeteria ceiling, police said. "I think it's heroic," Lacey Police Commander Chris Ward told NBC affiliate KING 5. "People rise to the occasion when they need to do something. I think, in this case, it probably prevented worse things from happening."

In a statement, Olson said that along with five other teachers, he ran toward the sound of the gunshot. "No one, including myself, can prepare for a situation like this, so I'm very thankful that we're all okay," he said. "As always, students come first, and today was no different." Classes were canceled for the day, and a spokesman for the school said police were questioning the shooter.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.