Hero Teacher Halted ‘Columbine-Style’ Attack

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- Hillsdale High teacher Kennett Santana admitted Tuesday he was merely reacting to the chaos around him when he tackled and subdued a former student, who had entered the school armed with 10 pipe bombs, a sword and a chainsaw.

Santana’s actions were being praised Tuesday for preventing a ‘Columbine-Style’ massacre at the San Mateo high school attended by more than 1,000 students.

He told KTVU that his Monday had a pretty normal start. It was around 8 a.m. and he had just checked in at the school office when the events began to unfold.

“I was on my way to make some copies,” he told KTVU. “I heard the first bang --- it sounded more like a crash to me. So that slowed me down. The second bang came right after that. There was a rush of students and teachers going away from the noise.”

What Santana did not know at the time was the noise was two pipe bombs exploding in a hallway. Fortunately, no one was injured by the blasts and instead of joining the exodus out of school, Santana decided to go toward the noise.

“I decided to turn around and go back the way I came and that’s when the young man came through some glass doors, “he said. “We were facing each other face-to-face.”

“I did not recognize him,” he continued. “I just started my third year at Hillsdale High School so I haven’t been there very long.”

But what Santana did recognize was the military-style vest the young man was wearing.

“It was a reaction, it was really quick,” he said. “After I had my hands on him, I made decisions about what I wanted to do. But closing the distance and grabbing the young man, there wasn’t a lot thinking involved in that.”

“Once he was on the ground,” Santana said. “I saw one pipe bomb on a back pocket. What I did realize, I kind of recognized, was the type of vest he had on. It was a tactical vest.”

The English Language Development Teacher wasted little time subduing the suspect.

“I put him in a bear hug and then I decided to flip him and put him on the ground,” he said. “That’s when the thinking came in -- I thought -- ’If I'm wrong, I’ll apologize to his parents later and if I’m right I’m going to hold this kid down.’”

At that moment, a teacher came out of a nearby classroom and Santana told her to go get help.

“That’s when the principal (Jeff Gilbert) came with another counselor,” he said. “Between the three of us – the principal took an arm, I held onto an arm and (the counselor) took the legs. We restrained the kid until the police came.”

When asked if the young man said anything to him, Santana said: “He said he couldn’t breathe -- which was too bad for him I guess.”

Santana said even nearly 24 hours later he was not having any second thoughts about the risks he took.

“I definitely feel like I did the right thing,” he said. “When I think about the risk, I never really looked at his hands, so thinking back, if he had something in his hands that would have been bad for me.”

“I haven’t had enough time to realize the danger I was in,” he continued. “I slept well last night.”

But his heroics were not lost on San Mateo Police Lt. Mike Brunicardi.

"All the while that the teachers and principal are confronting this kid, holding him down and tackling him, he's got eight live pipe bombs attached to his person," he said.

Meanwhile, the 17-year-old suspect remained in juvenile custody Tuesday while authorities decide on what charges will be filed against him. He has not been identified because he is a juvenile. The high school was closed for the day.

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