The teacher who reportedly intervened in Friday morning's school shooting at Noblesville West Middle School in Indiana is a former SIU football player.
The Indianapolis Star reports Jason Seaman has been a science teacher for Noblesville schools for nearly four years and a 7th grade football coach for two years.
A woman who identified herself as Seaman's mother posted on Facebook that her 29-year-old son is out of surgery and is doing well. She said he was shot once through the abdomen, once in the hip and once in the forearm.
Seaman played defensive end for the Salukis from 2007 to 2010. He graduated in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in elementary education and teaching.
Seaman released a written statement to media Friday evening confirming he was injured and thanking first responders.
"First of all, thank you to the first responders from Noblesville and Fishers for their immediate action and care. I want to let everyone know that I was injured but am doing great. To all students, you are all wonderful and I thank you for your support. You are the reason I teach."
Saluki Radio analyst Connor James competed against Seaman in high school track and they were teammates at SIU. James says after finding out Seaman is going to be OK, he had a huge sense of pride because the action fit Seaman's personality.
"In that moment, he has that type of mindset and he's the type of person that he's going to act. In a moment of complete adversity, he's going to run towards the adversity and not away. I'm shook to the core. I still have goosebumps and my heart's still beating talking about it. But, I'm just so glad that he's OK."
James says the Mahomet native has displayed an uncommon level of inner strength since their college days.
"When Jason was at SIU playing football, I remember in 2007 when we came in as freshmen, he played right away. I was a red shirt, but several of our teammates will remember this, he tore his ACL in a playoff game, and he walked over the sideline and acted like nothing happened. There's just a toughness there with him, built into his character that you really don't see in a lot of people."
Current SIU head coach Nick Hill played one season with Seaman at SIU. On the Saluki Football twitter account, Hill said, “He was a great teammate, one of the team's hardest workers. You could always trust him to do the right thing.”
In addition to Seaman, a student was also shot and is listed in stable condition.
The student accused of the shootings is in custody.
