Math teacher being hailed as hero after tackling Colorado shooting suspect

DENVER — During regular emergency drills at Deer Creek Middle School in suburban Denver, math teacher David Benke always told himself and his students that, should something dire occur, he would try to protect them.

So when he spotted a rifleman beginning to shoot
students leaving school Tuesday, Benke didn’t hesitate. “I made a
promise,” he said.

The 57-year-old teacher charged the gunman and
knocked him to the ground. While an assistant principal grabbed the
rifle, Benke and another teacher kept the shooter pinned until police
arrived.

On Wednesday, a judge ordered the accused gunman, 32-year-old Bruco Strong Eagle Eastwood, held on $1-million bail on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder. Two students were wounded — one in the arm, the other in the rib and lung.

The shooting was a few miles from Columbine High
School, the site of the worst school massacre in U.S. history, where in
1999 two teenage gunmen killed 12 students and a teacher. Authorities
said Benke’s heroism may have staved off a similar tragedy at Deer
Creek.

Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink shook Benke’s hand before television cameras Tuesday night and said “You’re a fine man.” A new Facebook page titled “Dr. David Benke is a Hero!” had 14,000 followers by Wednesday morning.

Eastwood is an unemployed ranch hand with a long
history of arrests for assault and domestic violence. His father told
the Denver Post that his son has mental problems and hears voices in
his head.

In the early 1990s, authorities said, Eastwood attended Deer Creek in Littleton. He returned there midday Tuesday and checked in at the office, but it is unclear what happened next.

“There was some dialogue with staff and then he left. Then the shooting began,” Jacki Kelley,
a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, said at a
news conference. “He was not asked to leave, he just left.”

Kelley said Eastwood has been cooperating with
authorities but declined to say what explanation the suspect gave for
the attack. She said Eastwood was using his father’s rifle.

Benke was one of four teachers outside the school watching children leave at about 3 p.m. when he heard the first shot.

Benke said he turned and saw Eastwoood. “I noticed
he was working a bolt action rifle,” Benke said at a news conference at
district headquarters Wednesday. “I realized I had time to get him
before he could chamber another round.”

After Benke, who is 6-foot-5, tackled Eastwood, the two men fell to the ground grappling. Assistant Principal Becky Brown dashed over and pulled the gun away from Eastwood. Brown said she, too, didn’t hesitate.

“Those kids are my kids,” she said. “When I saw him (Benke) and saw what he was doing I wanted to help.”

Another teacher climbed on top of Eastwood, who
complained that he was being brutalized and that he would sue the
school for excessive force, Benke said.

A laconic, soft-spoken man, Benke on Wednesday
brushed off accolades for his actions. “You’re just doing what you can
do to try to protect your kids,” he said.

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