'Shoot this way instead:' Hero acts as decoy during Tehama County shooting
Jesse Sanders of Tehama County tried to stop the shooter. Nov. 14, 2017/KCRA
CORNING, Calif. - Jessie Sanders did not flee from the Tehama County shooter’s bullets on Tuesday during a rampage that killed five people, including the gunman, and spanned seven different locations, including an elementary school.
Instead, Sanders headed straight to Rancho Tehama Elementary School.
“I just ran to the school,” Sanders said. “The dude was shooting through the windows.”
Sanders got the shooter's attention and begged for him to fire in his direction.
“Why don’t you shoot this way instead?” Sanders recalled to Sacramento station, KCRA. Sanders even shouted "ha ha" at the shooter to antagonize him and get him to start chasing him.
The shooter, identified by family as Kevin Neal, heeded his words.
Sanders got clipped on the arm. And when the shooter turned around, Neal said, “When I saw his face, I knew the guy, then he started shooting at me.”
But that was OK, Sanders said: "At least I knew he wasn't at the school no more."
Sanders knew more than just the shooter. Speaking emotionally, he said he knew everyone who had been killed.