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Miss. football player averts gun tragedy on school bus
By CHRIS JOYNER The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger submitted by alane s. megna • September 2, 2009
YAZOO COUNTY, Miss. - Kaleb Eulls started Tuesday perhaps like many high school students - catching a few last minutes of sleep on the bus ride to school - but he ended the day a hero.
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At 6:53 a.m., a 14-year-old girl boarded the bus and walked toward the back. She reached into a flower-print bag and pulled out a chrome-plated .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun and began shouting and threatening the other students.
"She was using some hard words," said Yazoo County Sheriff Tommy Vaughan. "She was saying somebody on the bus was either messing with her or picking on her."
Eulls, 18, said one of his three younger sisters, who were among the 22 people on the bus, shook him awake when they saw the girl with the gun.
Vaughan said Eulls approached the girl, telling her to "put the gun down."
Meanwhile, the girl demanded that the driver pull the bus over. Vaughan said the incident occurred in a rural part of the county that is miles from help. Many of the students were elementary age.
Eulls said he tried to get the girl's attention. Then Eulls, a 6-foot 4-inch, 255-pound senior, did what made him highly recruited as a defensive end at Yazoo County High School - he tackled her. Vaughan said both students went down, and a second later, Eulls' right hand shot back into view holding the weapon.
"I kept my distance for a second, she kind of glanced away or blinked and I got to her," he said.
"I just basically thought about all the lives that were in danger," Eulls said. "It all happened in about five minutes. I'm thankful that it turned out the way it did."
Now Eulls is being hailed as a selfless hero.
"He made the statement to one of my deputies that if she was going to shoot anyone, he would rather she shoot him," Vaughan said. "Watching him do that and him doing such a heroic act and not even caring about his own safety, that's something you don't see every day."
Kaleb Eulls said his mother, Ora Eulls, was relieved when he got home from football practice Tuesday night. "She said, 'You're everybody's hero.'"
Eulls, who also plays quarterback, has committed to Mississippi State University.
The girl was arrested on 22 counts of attempted aggravated assault, 22 counts of kidnapping and one count of possession of a firearm on school property. She was transported to the county juvenile detention facility, Vaughn said.
He said he wanted to know more about the gun, which he described as an inexpensive model prone to firing accidentally.
"I'm interested in talking to her parents to find out where did she get this gun," he said. "If she got it from home, why was it not secured?"
*** All I can say is wow ***
This is a story that will get a little publicity but could have had a lot more publicity if it had ended negatively. This happened yesterday and if not for the actions of this young man we could be seeing non stop coverage of the kids that might have been injured.
By CHRIS JOYNER The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger submitted by alane s. megna • September 2, 2009
YAZOO COUNTY, Miss. - Kaleb Eulls started Tuesday perhaps like many high school students - catching a few last minutes of sleep on the bus ride to school - but he ended the day a hero.
Advertisement
At 6:53 a.m., a 14-year-old girl boarded the bus and walked toward the back. She reached into a flower-print bag and pulled out a chrome-plated .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun and began shouting and threatening the other students.
"She was using some hard words," said Yazoo County Sheriff Tommy Vaughan. "She was saying somebody on the bus was either messing with her or picking on her."
Eulls, 18, said one of his three younger sisters, who were among the 22 people on the bus, shook him awake when they saw the girl with the gun.
Vaughan said Eulls approached the girl, telling her to "put the gun down."
Meanwhile, the girl demanded that the driver pull the bus over. Vaughan said the incident occurred in a rural part of the county that is miles from help. Many of the students were elementary age.
Eulls said he tried to get the girl's attention. Then Eulls, a 6-foot 4-inch, 255-pound senior, did what made him highly recruited as a defensive end at Yazoo County High School - he tackled her. Vaughan said both students went down, and a second later, Eulls' right hand shot back into view holding the weapon.
"I kept my distance for a second, she kind of glanced away or blinked and I got to her," he said.
"I just basically thought about all the lives that were in danger," Eulls said. "It all happened in about five minutes. I'm thankful that it turned out the way it did."
Now Eulls is being hailed as a selfless hero.
"He made the statement to one of my deputies that if she was going to shoot anyone, he would rather she shoot him," Vaughan said. "Watching him do that and him doing such a heroic act and not even caring about his own safety, that's something you don't see every day."
Kaleb Eulls said his mother, Ora Eulls, was relieved when he got home from football practice Tuesday night. "She said, 'You're everybody's hero.'"
Eulls, who also plays quarterback, has committed to Mississippi State University.
The girl was arrested on 22 counts of attempted aggravated assault, 22 counts of kidnapping and one count of possession of a firearm on school property. She was transported to the county juvenile detention facility, Vaughn said.
He said he wanted to know more about the gun, which he described as an inexpensive model prone to firing accidentally.
"I'm interested in talking to her parents to find out where did she get this gun," he said. "If she got it from home, why was it not secured?"
*** All I can say is wow ***
This is a story that will get a little publicity but could have had a lot more publicity if it had ended negatively. This happened yesterday and if not for the actions of this young man we could be seeing non stop coverage of the kids that might have been injured.
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