6th Grader helps protect PE class during stabbing at Warrenton school

WARRENTON, MO. (First Alert 4) - A sixth grader is being praised for a decision that may have helped protect his classmates during the stabbing at Black Hawk Middle School. The student, Brantley, said he kept a door closed when someone tried to get in.

Decision at the door

Brantley was with his PE class when the situation unfolded. Thursday’s cold weather moved class inside the fieldhouse.

“I was in the lobby and someone was banging on the door trying to get in. I wouldn’t let them in because they were looking at me weirdly, like mad, and they weren’t in my class,” Brantley said.

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Before the lockdown alert

The door incident happened before the school sent out its lockdown alert.

Brantley later learned the person at the gym doors was the student suspect.

“Somebody figured out who he was and showed me a picture, and I was like, ‘yeah that was the guy that was banging on the door trying to get in,” Brantley said.

Brantley said he was scared, but something told him not to let the student inside.

“God told me not to open the door,” he said.

Community reaction

Parents and people throughout the Warrenton community are praising his decision. Some are calling him a hero.

When asked what he thought about the praise, Brantley said, “Excited because there were 40 other people in that room.”

His father said, “I couldn’t be more proud. I’m just glad--the kids and the teacher that were hurt---I’m glad everybody is okay.”

Police said they captured the student suspect in the elementary school parking lot nearby.

For Brantley, that split-second decision may have helped the Warrenton community avoid further grief.