Stunning surveillance footage captured the moment a high school coach in Oregon disarmed a student with a shotgun and then held him in his arms.
Keanon Lowe, a football and track and field coach at Parkrose High School, can be seen walking through the hallways and entering a classroom on May 17.
When he next emerges, he is holding a shotgun and backing away from student Angel Granados-Diaz before another teacher comes up and takes the weapon away.
Then, in an extraordinary moment, Lowe embraces Granados-Diaz and the two hug for at least a minute.
At one point, it appears that Granados-Diaz tries to break free, but Lowe continues to hold on to him.
Police eventually arrive and take Granados-Diaz into custody.
Stunning surveillance footage captured the moment a high school coach in Oregon disarmed a student with a shotgun and then embraced him. Police eventually arrived and took the student into custody. https://t.co/a5artNKKlJ pic.twitter.com/rIKG9Phl0e
— ABC News (@ABC) October 19, 2019
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Lowe was hailed a hero following the incident at the Portland high school.
"This was a best-case scenario," Portland Police Sergeant Brad Yakots said at the time. "The staff members from all accounts did an excellent job."
Initial reports said that Lowe wrestled the student to the ground, but the video, which was released by Multnomah County District Attorney's Office on Friday, shows the emotional moment the two shared.
Granados-Diaz, now 19, was suffering from a mental health crisis at the time, according to ABC Portland affiliate KATU. He pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in a public building and one count of unlawful possession of a loaded firearm in public and was sentenced to three years of probation, KATU reported.
Lowe, a former Oregon Ducks football player, told the station that when the student entered the classroom with the weapon, he was close enough that he lunged for the gun and grabbed it with both hands.
"Then it was just me and that student. It was a real emotional time. It was emotional for him, it was emotional for me," he said back in May, according to KATU. "In that time, I felt compassion for him. A lot of times, especially when you're young, you don't realize what you're doing until it's over."
Cox Media Group
