A 30-year-old Army veteran who was shot at least five times while trying to stop the Umpqua Community College shooter spoke out for the first time this weekend, saying he was “overwhelmed” by the outpouring of support.
Chris Mintz’s first public comments came in a video posted to Facebook on Saturday by user Kivonna Coccia.
“Hello everyone, I’m doing well, and I’m overwhelmed by the support that I’ve gotten from everybody,” he said in the 16-second-long video. “I just want to wish all the other families a safe and speedy recovery, and I will be talking to you guys soon.”
Mintz remained hospitalized after undergoing surgery for the gunshot wounds.
He was injured Thursday morning after attempting to block the gunman from entering his classroom on the college campus. Mintz urged classmates to get to a safe place before reportedly telling the shooter, “You’re not getting by me.”
“At that point, the shooter shot (Mintz) five times and the shooter moved on and apparently didn’t go in to that classroom,” Pastor Dennis Kreiss told People. “I applaud the guy’s heroism. He may have saved the people in that classroom.”
Both of Mintz’s legs were broken, and he would have to relearn to walk, according to relatives.
A GoFundMe page that was started to help Mintz with his medical bills stated he was shot seven times. The fundraising page was started by his cousin with the goal of raising $10,000 for the shooting survivor.
But by Sunday morning, it had raised more than $715,000.
Mintz has been in the military for at least 10 years. He was in Oregon to raise his son, family members said.
The Tribune Media Wire contributed to this story.