PORTLAND, Ore. — A former college football standout at the University of Oregon was credited Friday with tackling an armed man at a Portland high school before any shots were fired.
Keanon Lowe, who is now a football and track coach and security guard at Parkrose High School, told reporters as he was leaving a police interview late Friday that he was tired but relieved at the outcome, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. No one was injured in the incident, and there are no other suspects.
Police declined to release any information about the armed individual, including whether or not he was a student at the school. Portland Police spokesman Sgt. Brad Yakots did not return a call or page seeking comment on Lowe’s reported involvement.
“I’m just happy everyone was OK,” Lowe said as he walked out of the school about four hours after the incident, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive. “I’m happy I was able to be there for the kids and for the community.”
Lowe didn’t reply to messages sent on Twitter or LinkedIn. Yakots said a firearm was recovered at the scene. The school was evacuated and a nearby middle school was on lockdown for several hours as the investigation unfolded.
The outcome was “the best case scenario, absolutely,” Yakots said. “The staff member did an excellent job by all accounts, [and] our officers arrived within minutes and went right in.”
Students recounted how a man entered their government class in the school’s fine arts building — separate from the main building — just before noon. Lowe had been in the classroom earlier looking for the man, whom other students identified as an 18-year-old senior at Parkrose.
About 10 minutes before the end of class, the student appeared in the doorway in a black trench coat and pulled out a long gun from beneath his coat, senior Justyn Wilcox, who also was in the room, told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
The student didn’t point the gun at anyone, Alexa Pope said.
Students fled out the back door because the gunman was blocking the main doorway.
“As I was running, I was just like, Lord, don’t let this be it,” Pope told the newspaper.
In college, Lowe was a star wide receiver at the University of Oregon, playing from 2011 to 2014. He caught 10 touchdown passes in his college career and had nearly 900 receiving yards, and he also saw playing time on special teams.
After college, Lowe worked as an offensive analyst for the San Francisco 49ers and as an analyst for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Lowe began working at Parkrose last year as the school’s head football and track and field coach, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that, he worked for his high school alma mater, Portland’s Jesuit High School, where he earned state defensive player of the year honors as a defensive back and was a standout sprinter.