President Barack Obama called 15-year-old Zaevion William Dobson a hero after the Knoxville, Tenn sophomore was shot and killed while using his body as a shield to protect three of his female friends.
The shooting tok place Thursday night (December 17) when police say men drove to Dobson’s neighborhood and started shooting in retaliation to an earlier incident. President Obama took to his official Twitter account Saturday (December 19) to weigh in on the tragedy.
Zaevion Dobson died saving three friends from getting shot. He was a hero at 15. What’s our excuse for not acting? https://t.co/hn98uGsjKZ
— President Obama (@POTUS) December 20, 2015
Dobson’s football coach at Fulton High School, Rob Black, referred to him as “fine young man” with a contagious personality people gravitated to.
Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch said investigators have not found a link between the shooters and Dobson and believe he was chosen at random.
“Unfortunately, they picked a random group of young men and women who were just hanging out and trying to prepare to celebrate the holiday,” Rausch said.