Carnegie Hero Fund Commission Recognizes 18 Individuals

PITTSBURGH (AP) — An Army veteran who fended off a mentally ill man who tried to attack a chess class the veteran was teaching at an Illinois public library is one of 18 people being honored with Carnegie medals for heroism. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, based in Pittsburgh, announced the winners on Tuesday. James O. Vernon, 75, was in a conference room at the Morton Public Library with 17 children and four women when 19-year-old Dustin Brown burst in with two large knives on Oct. 13, 2015. "He actually ran into the room yelling, 'I'm going to kill some people,'" Vernon told the Pekin Daily News days after the attack. The knives were hunting-type weapons with fixed blades about 5 inches long, Vernon said. "I can't let this happen," Vernon told The Associated Press at the time. Letting the children and women escape, Vernon then positioned himself between Brown and the door and fended off Brown until police arrived. He suffered two slashed arteries in his left hand and damaged a tendon in a finger. Brown pleaded guilty but mentally ill to charges in the attack and unrelated child pornography counts. He's serving 32 years in prison. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission was founded and endowed by the late steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who was inspired by stories of heroism during a coal mine disaster that killed 181 people, including a miner and an engineer, who died trying to rescue others. The commission investigates stories of herois...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: News Administration and Leadership Source Type: news