US officer who shot gunman at high school ‘saved many lives’

Mark Dallas shot and arrested the former student after opening fire in his school
AP
Kiran Randhawa17 May 2018

A police officer has been hailed a hero for confronting a 19-year-old gunman who opened fire in a school.

Mark Dallas shot the former student in a gun battle at Dixon High School in Illinois after the suspect fired shots near an auditorium where students had gathered for a graduation ceremony rehearsal at about 8am yesterday.

The suspect, named locally as Matt Milby, who was recently expelled, fled the building as Mr Dallas chased him. They exchanged fire until a bullet hit the teenager. He was arrested and taken to hospital for non-life threatening injuries. No one else was hurt. US vice president Mike Pence tweeted: “Lives were saved thanks to the heroic actions of school resource officer Mark Dallas.”

Dixon police chief Steven Howell said: “Because of his heroic actions, many lives were saved. With shots ringing out in the hallways of the school, he charged toward the suspect and confronted him head on.” He said students barricaded classroom doors during the shooting.

Moving to safety: students from Dixon High School file into the adjacent National Guard armoury after the shooting in Illinois
AP

Student Brianna Johnson said the suspect “seemed like a really nice kid, but then everything changed and he was angry and high all the time.”

Milby faces three charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm. Ronald Reagan, the 40th US president, graduated from the school in 1928.

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