CNN's Chris Cuomo pays tribute to Riley Howell, whose sacrifice during the UNC shooting holds a lesson

Students at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte received a text alert soon after shots were fired on campus at 5:40 p.m. on Tuesday: "Run, Hide, Fight." The gunman was in Riley Howell's classroom, and "having no place to run and hide, he did the last," Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said Wednesday. Howell, 21, ran at the gunman and knocked him off his feet, but it cost him his life; he was one of two people fatally shot, along with Ellis "Reed" Parlier, 19. Four other people were wounded.

"But for his work, the assailant may not have been disarmed,” Putney said. "Unfortunately, he gave his life in the process. But his sacrifice saved lives," and Howell was "the first and foremost hero" on Tuesday.

CNN's Chris Cuomo thanked Howell on Wednesday night. "Sacrifice — literally, a holy act — and that's what this was: Someone doing something that was bigger than themselves," he said. And according to Riley's family, "this is who he was: A young man who looked out for his young siblings and cousins, who idolized first responders, and was torn between college and volunteering for the military."

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After these shootings, we always wonder if there's anything we can do to curb gun violence, Cuomo said. "Riley should be a reminder of what true resolve looks like: You see a problem, you go right at it. ... I'm not lionizing or exaggerating for effect; I can't think of a situation that would be harder than the one this kid faced — and I don't think I could do what he did. But he did it, and that is affirmation of what is possible from people. Not everyone just takes care of themselves. ... Not this kid."

"I'm sorry for his family, their loss, and all of the affected families," Cuomo said. "But I also want to thank Riley Howell for reminding us that we can be so much better than we are."