Chris Mintz, an army veteran and student at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, took seven bullets after charging at yesterday's shooter... and survived. He's originally from Randleman, North Carolina, and served nearly 10 years in the armed forces, during which time he was deployed to the Middle East. Upon leaving the army, he moved to Oregon and started going to school with the hopes of becoming a fitness trainer.
If you can't tell by his pictures, he's pretty swole from practicing mixed martial arts and cage-fighting. When his cousin heard about his heroic feat, he said it "sound[ed] like something [Chris] would do." According to NBC News, he was shot in the "back, abdomen and hands" and suffered "two broken legs." He had to undergo surgery upon arriving at the hospital, but he's expected to recover. His cousin also said that he'll have to "learn to walk" again.
Yesterday also just happened to be his six-year-old son's birthday. Chris was heard saying "It’s my son’s birthday, it’s my son’s birthday," as he lay bleeding.
Chris' cousin set up a GoFundMe to raise money for his hospital bills. It's already raised $66,000, even though the goal was just $10,000. Chris told ABC News this morning that he is "worried about everyone else" and "hope[s] that everyone else is OK."
According to a witness, Chris took charge of the situation during the shooting. Hannah Miles told ABC News,
He ran to the library and pulled the alarms and he was telling people to run, grabbing people, telling them, "You just have to go." He actually ran back towards the building where the shooting was and he ran back into the building and I don't know what happened to him.
His story is being presented as a counter-narrative to reports about the killer, in the hopes that focusing on people like Chris will help prevent mass shooters from getting the media attention they often crave.