The heroic actions of one student at an Oregon college that was targeted by a gunman 
yesterday may have saved the lives of many.
Army vet Chris Mintz reportedly charged at the shooter and was shot seven times as 
he tried to save other students, during the massacre at Umpqua Community College

in Roseburg, Oregon.
Family members say they were not surprised at all when they heard the reports that 
their 30-year old relative had done what he could to protect others from the gunman.
“There was no way he was going to stand around and watch something this horrific
 happen,” his cousin, Derek Bourgeois told the Daily Mail. Mintz’s aunt told NBC News, 
“We were told he did heroic things to protect some people.”
A former wrestler and avid cage-fighting fan, Mintz was working on his degree to 
become a fitness coach. Wanda Mintz, another aunt of the victim, told Fox 8 
that her nephew could have easily died.
“I really think that if he wasn’t such a strong, young guy, he may have died,” she said.
Originally from North Carolina, family members say Mintz had joined the Army after high school, and was sent to Fort Lewis in Washington. He served about 10 years and had just started college in Oregon, where he apparently relocated to raise his son.
By all accounts it seems this man is not only a real-life hero but “an extremely good guy” whose positive attitude even shined through in his hospital bed, where he was photographed with a big smile.
Mintz is expected to recover but suffered broken legs, and underwent surgery after being shot in the back, abdomen and hands.
The 26-year-old gunman was shot by deputies after he killed nine people and injured seven others at the community college.