A school resource officer is being hailed a hero for saving students from a possible high school shooter.
It all happened at Dixon High School in Dixon, Illinois. It's a community of about 15,000 residents and is located about 40 miles southwest of Rockford, Illinois.
On Wednesday, a 19-year-old student allegedly fired a number of bullets in the high school gym while graduating seniors were practicing for their commencement ceremony. School Resource Officer Mark Dallas, whose own child was in the gym, jumped into action. He chased the suspect, exchanged gunfire with him, and hit the suspect with a bullet in the the shoulder. No one else was hurt.
Community members are now thanking Officer Dallas for his brave actions in stopping the gunman and preventing a possible tragedy.
"Didn't let this situation get escalated, and he took it down before it got escalated, so he did a wonderful job, and I commend him for that," said neighbor John Schafer.
The suspect, who was supposed to graduate this Sunday, has been charged with three counts of aggravated discharge of a weapon at a school and is being held on $2 million bond.
His mother told NBC News that her son felt ostracized and sad after getting kicked off the football team for smoking marijuana, but she claims he had no intensions of hurting anyone.
