Assistant football coach Aaron Feis of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School died a hero after shielding students during the mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla., according to Sun Sentinel.
The assistant coach and security guard was killed along with 16 others after a gunman opened fire at school Wednesday before being taken into custody.
“It is with Great sadness that our Football Family has learned about the death of Aaron Feis. He was our Assistant Football Coach and security guard. He selflessly shielded students from the shooter when he was shot. He died a hero and he will forever be in our hearts and memories,” the official Twitter account for Douglas Football team tweeted Thursday.
It is with Great sadness that our Football Family has learned about the death of Aaron Feis. He was our Assistant Football Coach and security guard. He selflessly shielded students from the shooter when he was shot. He died a hero and he will forever be in our hearts and memories pic.twitter.com/O181FvuHl3
— MS Douglas Football (@MSDEagles) February 15, 2018
Douglas head coach, Willis May said he heard directly from one student Wednesday that the assistant coach “jumped between her and the shooter to push her out through a door” and away from the line of fire. Throughout the day, social media accounts referenced Feis as a “hero”
The head coach talked about his friend and described him as a “good man” and “excellent family man.”
“Big ol’ teddy bear,” May shared. “Hardcore–he coached hard. Real good line. He did a great job with the [offensive] line. He took pride with working with those guys. Loyalty– I trusted him. He had my back. He worked hard. Just a good man. Loved his family. Loved his brother– just an excellent family man.”
Shortly after news broke about the shooting, a Douglas football player, Charlie Rothkopf, tweeted a picture of the coach and asked for prayers for him.
“Can everyone please take a second to pray for my coach today he took several bullets covering other students at Douglas,” Rothkopf tweeted.
Can everyone please take a second to pray for my coach today he took serval bullets covering other students at Douglas . pic.twitter.com/8AMG7t6tpH
— Charlie Rothkopf (@RothkopfCharlie) February 14, 2018
Feis is survived by his wife, Melissa and a daughter.