Tate Myre, 16, a star junior running back at Oxford High School (Mich.), was one of four students who died during a shooting at the school on Tuesday. He died while being rushed to a local hospital after being shot.
The suspect, who has been identified as 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, was taken into custody after he killed four students and injured seven people. He’s been charged with four counts of first-degree murder. Myre, Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17 and Justin Shilling, 17, are the four victims.
Ross Wingert, who was Tate’s football and wrestling coach, told the Detroit Free Press that the junior ran towards the gunman to try and disarm him.
“I was told that everybody in that school was running one way, and Tate was running the other way,” Wingert told the newspaper.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard told the Detroit Free Press on Tuesday night that currently there is no video evidence that shows anyone attempting to disarm the shooter.
The Michigan football team announced Thursday it will honor Myre and the three other victims with a special logo on their uniforms for Saturday’s Big Ten Championship game against Iowa. The team tweeted it was “proud to represent the state of Michigan and all of its communities” by doing so.
“The shape is of Oxford’s ‘Block O’, meant to honor all victims, survivors, and community members,” Michigan wrote. ” … The ‘TM’ and ’42’ pay tribute to football player Tate Myre. Tate, Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin, and Justin Shilling, whose lives were senselessly lost earlier this week, are represented by four blue hearts.”
Myre’s classmates have started a Change.org petition in which they are calling for Wildcats Stadium to be renamed in his honor. The petition had over 125,000 signatures as of Thursday morning.
“Tate is not just a hero to his fellow students at Oxford high school but a legend, his act of bravery should be remembered forever and passed down through generations, he put his life in danger to try and help the thousands of other students at Oxford High School,” reads the description on the Change.org petition.
Myre was a star running back for the Wildcats and wanted to play college football at a Division I school. According to TMZ Sports, he was interested in visiting Michigan State, Notre Dame, Texas, Texas A&M and USC, among other schools.
He visited the University of Toledo for a recruitment trip at the end of November.
“I have been in love with football since I was young and always dreamed of playing college football,” Myre said in his recruitment profile. “If I play college football I will be the hardest worker on the field and no matter the situation in the game I will give all my effort.”
