Police say Cassidy Schutz, a learning specialist at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, threw her cellphone at a 16-year-old gunman and wrestled him for his shotgun on Oct. 15. This week, in her first public statement, she made one thing clear: she doesn’t want to be the headline. “This is not a story,” she said. “This is a horrific and heartbreaking tragedy, and it is our real lives.” Her focus, she says, is on the families, her school team and her own healing.
The toll from that day is staggering. Teacher Megan Lambert was 25. Student Rhoam Summer was 5. Two other children were killed, and a teacher and a 7-year-old girl survived being shot. A parent, Kaylub Giamanco, helped subdue the shooter, and investigators credit Schutz with saving lives. Still, her statement centered the victims and survivors, not her actions.
For Gulf Coast communities that know plenty about rallying after hard days, it’s a fitting reminder that the people who step up in a crisis are also the people who need the most room afterward. She has asked for privacy and says she won’t make further statements. That’s a request worth honoring. How do you think our own community should support people who step up in moments of crisis?
