CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Riley Howell, the 21-year-old student killed in the shooting on the University of North Carolina Charlotte campus, sacrificed his life to save others when he fought the gunman who opened fire in the college classroom.
On Thursday, Howell’s body is being taken back to his hometown of Waynesville with a police escort. Traffic stopped along busy, four-lane Charlotte streets as the procession went by.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said Howell did exactly what people are trained to do in these situations; run, hide or take the fight directly to the assailant.
“Having no place to run or hide, he did the last,” Putney said.
“But for his work, the assailant may not have been disarmed. Unfortunately, he gave his life in the process but his sacrifice saved lives.”
Putney said Howell was the first and foremost hero as far as he was concerned. Putney said he told Howell’s father that authorities will give the family closure.
Speaking to NBC’s “Today Show,” Howell’s family said they were “beyond proud.”
“If he was in the room when something like that was happening, and he had turned away, he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself,” Howell’s mother, Natalie Henry-Howell, said on the show.
According to The Citizen-Times, Howell was a 2016 graduate of T.C. Roberson High School.
A friend of Howell’s, 20-year-old Lucas Tate, told the paper that Howell “was one of the most loving and caring people I have ever met.” Tate also said that Howell “had an amazing soul.”
Howell’s girlfriend, Lauren Westmoreland, told The New York Times that Howell is her hero.
“But he’s just my angel now, as well,” she told the paper.
Putney said Howell was probably the second fatality in the shooting. Ellis Parlier, 19, of Midland, was also killed in the shooting.
The accused gunman, Trystan Andrew Terrell, 22, is charged with two counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, possession of a firearm on educational property and discharging a firearm on educational property. Terell’s motive remains unclear.
Reporting and writing from The Associated Press was used in this story.