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What we know about ‘hero’ Indiana teacher Jason Seaman

'When the safety of the kids is at hand, it's not surprising to me that he was going to do what he had to do,' the teacher's brother explained.
Credit: Kevin Moloney/Getty Images
A student and adult embrace outside Noblesville West Middle School after a shooting at the school on May 25, 2018 in Noblesville, Indiana. One teacher and one student were initially reported injured.

Students are calling Noblesville West Middle School science teacher Jason Seaman a hero after they say he stopped a student who fired two handguns into his classroom Friday morning.

Police have not identified Seaman as the adult victim, but his family members and several students have.

A female student was also injured in the shooting. A male student in the class was arrested.

Here's what we know about the 29-year-old teacher:

'He's not a person to run away'

Jeremy Seaman said his brother is the kind of guy who would put his own safety at risk on behalf of his students.

“It’s not surprising, to be honest,” he said of his brother’s intervention in the shooting. “He’s not really ever been the person to run away. When the safety of the kids is at hand, it’s not surprising to me that he was going to do what he had to do.”

Several former students of Jason Seaman echoed that sentiment.

One student, now a freshman at Noblesville High School who was in his class two years ago, said that Seaman was always extremely prepared for anything.

"In training situations he always said that he was willing to sacrifice himself before he would let anything happen to his students," the student wrote in a tweet to IndyStar.

Though no longer a student at Noblesville West, the freshman said she has friends who still attend the middle school and she feared for their safety but thanked Seaman for his heroic acts.

"He said he would do whatever it took to save us," she added. "He proved that today."

Another student said that her science teacher told his class at the beginning of last year that he would throw "tennis and golf balls and do whatever it takes if an intruder ever came into our room."

That teacher was Mr. Seaman.

Jason Seaman, a Noblesville West Middle School teacher who intervened in a school shooting Friday, formerly played football at Southern Illinois University. (Photo: Photo provided by Southern Illinois University)

He was shot three times

A woman who identified herself as Seaman's mother posted on Facebook that her son was shot three times and underwent surgery on Friday.

"Please pray for my son," she said in the social media post. "We are told he is in good condition but haven't gotten to see him yet. I thank God that no one was killed."

A three-sport athlete

Jeremy Seaman said his brother was three-sport high school athlete in Mahomet, Illinois. He tore his ACL playing basketball in his junior year, but after several surgeries he was back on the football field in August, his brother said.

“He’s familiar with struggle and adversity,” his brother, who now lives in Arizona, said.

He said his brother was married and had two young children — a toddler son and a 1-month-old daughter.

Jason Seaman, a Noblesville West Middle School teacher who intervened in a school shooting Friday, formerly played football at Southern Illinois University. (Photo: Photo provided by Southern Illinois University)

He intervened to keep his kids safe

Seaman has been a science teacher for Noblesville schools for nearly four years, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also has been a football coach for seventh-graders for two years.

Jeremie Lovall said his daughter, a seventh-grader in the school, was in the classroom when the shooting started. She called her dad, who lives in Kokomo, to tell him she was OK.

“She kept saying, ‘I saw my teacher get shot,’” Lovall said. His daughter was in Seaman’s class.

IndyStar is getting conflicting information about how Seaman intervened, but many students and their parents have said he saved the lives of his students.

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