Football Coach Who Shielded Students From Florida High School Shooter Dies

Amidst the tragedy of Wednesday’s school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, there are tales of bravery. On Twitter, a story of an assistant football coach sacrificing his life to save his students has emerged.

According to the Miami Herald, Coach Aaron Feis was shot during the Parkland shooting that killed 17 and injured 14 others.

“Coach Feis has not passed. He was shot but is not dead,” Jordan May, another coach at the high school, said on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon. However, by 9 PM, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel announced that “a beloved football coach is dead.” The name of that coach was not disclosed. May's original quote has since been deleted.

The football team’s Twitter wrote, “He selflessly shielded students from the shooter when he was shot. He died a hero.” According to the Sun Sentinel, Feis jumped between at least one student and the shooter to save her.

Feis was a fierce protector at the school. In fact, he also worked as a security guard at the school, reported CNN.

Another football coach Willis May told the Sentinel that he heard Feis talking on his walkie-talkie over the school’s security radio at the time of the shooting.

“I heard Aaron say, ‘No, that is not firecrackers.’ That’s the last I heard of him,” May said.

Former student Ashley Speziale told the Daily Beast that she was not shocked to hear of the coach’s selfless acts.

“Even if I wanted so much as a place to sit, his office was always open,” Speziale told The Daily Beast. “He’d sit with me. He’d talk to me. He’d let me be in silence. [...] He was friendly with everybody, but he also knew when not to be friendly and when he needed to be the authority figure.”

[Photo: Instagram]