It came as no surprise to Michael Landsberry’s family that the Sparks Middle School math teacher was being called a hero for trying to convince a student to put his gun down moments before Lansberry was killed.

Michael and Sharon Landsberry
Image: USA Today

The shooting rampage Monday also left two students wounded. The shooter then fatally shot himself.

“To hear he was trying to protect those kids, that he stepped up and tried to stop the situation, doesn’t surprise me at all,” said Chanda Landsberry, who is married to Michael’s younger brother, Reggie. “He could have ducked and hid, but he didn’t. That’s not who he is.”

“He was trained to help.”

Lansberry, a member of the Nevada Air National Guard, leaves behind his wife and two stepdaughters.

Tom Robinson, deputy chief with the Reno Police Department, said that “in my estimation, he is a hero. We do know he was trying to intervene.”

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