Hero teacher didn’t have time to think
In the moments after a young man detonated two pipe bombs at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, English language development teacher Kennet Santana didn’t have time to think about what he should do.
As students crouched for cover in their classrooms, Santana, 34, moved toward the explosions shortly after 8 a.m. Monday. In the hallway outside the library, he saw a boy wearing a tactical vest with what turned out to be eight other pipe bombs.
Santana thought at first the youth was a student trying to run from whatever was happening. But when he noticed a pipe bomb sticking out of one of the boy’s pockets, he realized that the youth was a threat – and that he had to stop him.
Without hesitation, Santana tackled the boy in a bear hug, pinned his arms to his sides, flipped him to the ground and stayed on top of him while yelling at other teachers to call for help.
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But does the teacher consider himself a hero?
Not by this answer: “There’s one hero in my family, and he’s in Iraq right now,” Santana said, referring to his brother, who is in the military.
