The tragedy Sunday at the Waffle House in Nashville, Tenn., which saw four innocent lives lost and four other people wounded, could have been worse.
Much worse.
The bravery of one man, James Shaw Jr., ended the attack and sent the gunman fleeing.
Early Sunday morning, Shaw stopped by the Waffle House for a bite to eat. Suddenly a nearly naked man burst in and began firing.
Shaw jumped up and wrestled the rifle away from the assailant, suffering a superficial wound in the process. The killer-whom police identified as Travis Reinking, 29-ran away from the scene.
Reinking was captured the next day after an intense manhunt. And Shaw was hailed as a hero.
But he rejected the accolade. He termed his actions as "selfish."
"I was completely doing it just to save myself. Now, me doing that, I did save other people. But I don't want people to think that I was the Terminator, or Superman or anybody like that," he said.
Whatever his motivation, Shaw is indeed a hero. That's because most of us-even those who think otherwise-would not have the courage to take on an obviously deranged armed attacker. We would not have been able to think that clearly, to act so quickly. The first instinct in such a dangerous situation is to run, to get away. Shaw's first reaction was to confront the gunman. That's uncommon and it's what saved lives.
Shaw did something else, too. He set up a GoFundMe campaign for the families of the Waffle House victims. He's not asking for a dime; all the money will go to the families. His goal was a modest $15,000. By Tuesday at noon donations had reached more than $100,000.
Reinking's behind bars, and his fate will be decided by the legal system. If he is indeed the culprit, then four people are dead because of his actions. But James Shaw Jr. is alive because of his actions. So are others who survived the attack.
We salute him.