Juan F. Lopez

Juan F. Lopez helped rescue an indeterminate number of people from assault, Pasadena, Texas, February 1, 2025. An 83-year-old man armed with a pistol entered a high school and lingered in a corner near some entrances in the hallway off an auditorium, where students were performing in a band competition. The assailant shot into a group of people, wounding one man, and the man and several bystanders near the entrances ran away to take cover. Among those standing around the nearby ticket table during the gunfire was Lopez, 42, a career and technical education teacher attending with his wife, 6-year-old son, and in-laws. As his wife, son, and mother-in-law scattered and hid, Lopez was guiding his father-in-law, who used a motorized scooter, toward steps to the auditorium when they fell to the hallway floor. As Lopez was squatting and trying to help his father-in-law to his feet, the assailant jogged down the hallway with the gun toward their location. When the assailant was about to pass nearby, Lopez jumped up, grasped the assailant from behind, and tackled him to the floor while the assailant still held the gun in his right hand. Lopez then gripped the assailant’s right hand and forced it to the floor as he leaned atop him to pin the assailant down. The assailant then squirmed and moved onto his stomach, and Lopez continued to restrain him. About 40 seconds after Lopez intervened, other men alerted to the incident responded to pull the gun from the assailant’s hand and hold him down as Lopez, who was tired from the struggle, disengaged. Police shortly arrived and took the assailant into custody. He was charged with aggravated assault but died before the criminal case went to trial. The wounded man recovered after hospitalization. Lopez suffered minor knee pain for about a week, recovering without any medical treatment.

2025-0000054-10539