James Shaw Jr. has said he doesn't want to be called a hero. But let's review how he's spent the past two days, and you be the judge.
Early Sunday morning he stopped a massacre, wrestling an AR-15 away from a gunman who had just shot at least six people in an Antioch Waffle House and almost certainly would have shot more. After receiving treatment for his injuries — including burns on his hand from grabbing the scalding-hot rifle — he went home, changed his clothes, and went to church with his family.
Shortly after that, he started a GoFundMe to raise money for the victims of the shooting and their families. And as of this writing it's raised more than $90,000 $110,000.
Shaw, a 29-year-old Nashville native and graduate of Tennessee State University who has a four-year-old daughter, also visited two shooting victims who are still in the hospital while he was there to receive more treatment yesterday.
Today, the state legislature will honor Shaw with a resolution sponsored by Rep. Brenda Gilmore and the rest of the Nashville delegation. The resolution reads in part: “If a hero is ‘a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character,’ then James Shaw, Jr., is a hero twice over, for he has demonstrated both his courage and character in a manner few could ever attempt to emulate.”
Reporter Yashar Ali has also started a GoFundMe for Shaw and Waffle House says they'll be "doing things" for Shaw.
