Score one for the good guys.
Chris Mintz, an amateur MMA fighter with a record of 1-1, was shot seven times by a gunman Friday during a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. Mintz survived, but took bullet wounds to the back, abdomen and hands, according to NBC News (h/t Washington Post).
The 30-year-old became an instant hero in the hours after the incident, which saw 10 people dead, including the gunman, and seven more injured. The casualties may have been even worse, if not for Mintz blocking the shooter's way into a classroom full of fellow students, reportedly telling the gunman "you're not getting by me," according to a report from KTLA 5.
This is Chris's friend, Chris asked me to thank everyone for their support, he is grateful and keeping our community and all victims in his thoughts.
Posted by Chris Mintz on Friday, October 2, 2015
The shooter, who was subsequently identified as Chris Harper Mercer, opened fire on Mintz, but apparently did not get into the classroom.
Here's your hero! Chris Mintz, Army vet used to live in Tacoma. He rushed the gunman and survived being shot 7 times pic.twitter.com/0lj8JF67or
— John R. Knicely (@KnicelyKIRO7) October 2, 2015
Later, Mintz's aunt, Sheila Brown, told NBC News Mintz was "on the wrestling team and and he's done cage-fighting so it does not surprise me that he would act heroically."
"[Mintz] tried to protect some people," she added. "We were told he did heroic things to protect some people."
Mintz is also a 10-year Army veteran.
In a sport that often sees villainous figures like War Machine and the arrests of top fighters like Jon Jones grab headlines out of the cage, it is a major change from the norm to see someone like Mintz, whose background in MMA is not elite but exists nonetheless, earn notoriety for the right reasons.
Simply put: Chris Mintz is someone the MMA community can and should be proud of.
