Hero is a word that is often overused. In this case however, the word does not go far enough. And the NRA will not want you to know about it:
Link (Its the DailyMail sorry, but you can find the story anywhere):
A gunman who stormed a suburban Atlanta elementary school with an AK-47 surrendered peacefully without hurting a single person after a heroic secretary faced him down and kept him occupied while students evacuated, it has been revealed.
Michael Brandon Hill, 20, slipped into Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Decatur, Georgia, on Tuesday afternoon behind a parent who was buzzed into the school's locked doors. He stormed into a front office and demanded a TV news crew film his ensuing shootout with police, in which he intended to die.
But, his suicidal plan was thwarted by Antoinette Tuff, an unimposing, unarmed bookkeeper. She steadfastly refused to allow him to go anywhere near the young children of her school and then convinced him to drop his weapons, empty his pockets and give himself up.
Unarmed and unafraid Antoinette Tuff quite possibly saved dozens of lives. I realize that every shooting and shooter is different, and that what worked here may not have worked in other situations but I think that it is important to note that when faced with an armed violent response the result was more aggression (not to mention a whole lot of exchange of gunfire in which many people could have been hurt be bullets fired from either sides):
Police say Hill, armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, multiple other weapons and a backpack full of spare ammunition, barged into the front office of the school, fired a shot and told Ms Tuff to call an Atlanta TV station, saying that he wanted camera crews to 'start filming as police die.'
As officers began arriving at the school, he fired at least six shots at them from the office. Police returned fire. No one was hit in either exchange of gunfire.
Instead, a little compassion went a long ways:
At one point, Hill started to leave the office and step into the hallway, where he would have had access to students. Ms Tuff stopped him and told him that she was not going to let him leave.
He refused to tell her his name, so Ms Tuff decided that she would keep his attention focused on her by telling her own story.
Ms Tuff described to Hill the heartbreak of her marriage falling apart after 33 years and the 'roller coaster' of opening her own business.
'I told him, "OK, we all have situations in our lives,"' she said. 'It was going to be OK. If I could recover, he could, too.'
Eventually she managed to calm Hill down. She then convinced him to change his mind, that he should surrender rather than dying in a blaze of glory in a police shootout.
Not much time to diary but thought that Ms Tuff (fitting name eh?) deserves some kudos and we here at DailyKos could take a break from some NSA discussions and provide them.