NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — President Trump on Saturday praised the suburban Indianapolis science teacher who stopped a shooting inside his classroom.
‘‘Thanks to very brave teacher and hero Jason Seaman of Noblesville, Ind., for his heroic act in saving so many precious young lives,’’ Trump said on Twitter. “His quick and automatic action is being talked about all over the world!’’
Vice President Mike Pence, the former governor of Indiana, also credited the teacher’s ‘‘courageous action’’ for saving lives during the shooting.
‘‘We’re all proud of you Jason and are praying for you and those impacted and recovering from injuries,’’ Pence said in his own tweet
Seventh-grader Ethan Stonebraker, one of Seaman’s students at Noblesville West Middle School, said the 29-year-old teacher immediately ran at the student gunman, ‘‘swatted a gun out of his hand and tackled him to the ground.’’
Seaman, a Noblesville resident, was shot but is in good condition at a hospital. A student, Ella Whistler, was also shot and is in critical but stable condition.
Seaman was a defensive end for Southern Illinois University’s football team.
Whistler’s family released a statement late Friday night saying Ella is doing well at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.
‘‘Our daughter, Ella Whistler, was involved in a horrific shooting today at her school. We will spend the next days and weeks processing what happened and why,’’ the statement said.
The shooting suspect, a male student at the school, was arrested soon after the shooting around 9 a.m. Friday, Police Chief Kevin Jowitt said.
Authorities didn’t release the student’s name or say whether he had been in trouble before but indicated he probably acted alone.
Stonebraker told ABC News that Seaman threw a basketball at the shooter and ran toward the bullets as screaming students sought cover behind a table.
Stonebraker said he knew the suspected gunman. He described him as ‘‘a nice kid most of the times.’’
‘‘It’s just a shock he would do something like that,’’ he said.
The attack came a week after a shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, that killed eight students and two teachers, and months after the high school attack that killed 17 people in Parkland, Fla. The Florida attack inspired students across the nation to call for more restrictions on guns.
Survivors of the Parkland shooting staged ‘‘die ins’’ at two Publix supermarkets on Friday to protest the Florida chain’s support for a gubernatorial candidate aligned with the National Rifle Association. The company announced it is suspending political contributions.
The students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shouted ‘‘USA, not NRA!’’ and caused brief delays at the checkout as customers navigated carts around them on the floor. Pro-NRA counter-protesters also showed up at one store, and two men almost came to blows before police intervened.
