student at Seattle Pacific University was credited with saving countless lives in June 2014. A gunman had entered Otto Miller Hall and begun shooting, killing one student and wounding two others. While gunman Aaron Ybarra reloaded his weapon, 22-year-old engineering student Jon Meis took action. Meis was a volunteer monitor in the building, sitting at a desk near the entrance. Meis always carried pepper spray, just to be prepared for anything, and this was his chance to use it. He sprayed 26-year-old Ybarra in the face, then tackled him to the ground. Other students piled on, and the police arrived shortly after to arrest the gunman.
Meis was uninjured but in shock and taken to hospital as a precaution. He was hailed as a hero as news of his actions spread across social media, yet he and his family shunned the limelight, declining opportunities to speak with the media. Instead, he released a written statement through the university, crediting his Christian faith and thanking the public for the support but reminding them of the greater tragedy. He requested that any donations be sent to the victims rather than himself. Meis received a standing ovation as he graduated from Seattle Pacific only nine days after the shooting. At the ceremony, the university also announced that an engineering scholarship would be established in his honor.