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In a case of real-life heroics, a Mississippi high-school quarterback tackled and disarmed an irate 14-year-old student who boarded the school bus and threatened to shoot her loaded .380 semi-automatic handgun.
Yazoo County, Miss., Sheriff Tommy Vaughan told the local paper, the Clarion-Ledger, about 6'4", 225-lb. Kaleb Eulls, 18: "If it hadn't been for this star football player, things could have been different. He didn't go overboard, but he did exactly what it took to get her on the ground."
Both Eulls and Vaughan appeared on Thursday's Today show to discuss Tuesday's incident, which started, Eulls said, when his sister woke him up from dozing on the bus and pointed out the girl with the gun, who made an alleged threat to shoot the 22 other kids, many elementary-school age.
Eulls "made the statement to one of my deputies that if she was going to shoot anyone he would rather she shoot him," Vaughan said.
Selfless About His Own Safety
"I just tried to talk to her and calm her down," said Eulls. When she refused, he tackled her and wrestled the weapon from her hand."Watching him do that and him doing such a heroic act and not even caring about his own safety, that's something you don't see every day," said Vaughan, who added that if it hadn't been for Eulls's courage, a very different and sad story would be told today.
"He made the absolute right call," said the sheriff.
The Clarion-Ledger quotes Vaughan as saying that the girl – whose identity is not being revealed – was arrested on 22 counts of attempted aggravated assault, 22 counts of kidnapping and one count of possession of a firearm on school property. He said on Today that when she boarded the bus she "was very irate and mad at someone on the bus."
Eulls, who plays defensive end and quarterback, is committed to Mississippi State University. Of his deed on the school bus, he now says, "I was just scared for the younger kids and my family that was on the bus."
