Oregon College Hero Recounts Rampage; Russian Defense Ministry: Airstrikes Hit 49 Sites
HARLOW: New information today in that deadly shooting at a college in Oregon, where eight students and one professor were killed. Nine others were injured including army veteran Chris Mintz. He is being hailed as a hero. And today, he is speaking out for the first time about the events of that tragic day, and asking a question that may never be answered. Our Nick Valencia has more. Hi, Nick.</s>NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, it is a stunning account, for the first time we are hearing from Chris Mintz in his own words on what happened the day of the shooting.</s>CHRIS MINTZ, OREGON SHOOTING HERO: To dispatch a many ambulance as possible to the (Inaudible) We have a 20 victims.</s>VALENCIA: Chilling new details in the Oregon Community College massacre from shooting survivor, Chris Mintz, the army veteran who's been called a hero for protecting others.</s>MINTZ: We exchange shots with him, he's in the classroom.</s>VALENCIA: In a Facebook posting Mintz recalled the day that he says started out as normal, but quickly descended into chaos. He writes "There was a bunch of yelling and that there were gunshots going off that sounded like firecrackers." Mintz, who says he sat in the front of the class says everyone got up and took off. "I stopped and held the door open and waited for everyone to leave safely," he writes. He then says he took direction from a counselor that kept screaming someone needed to tell the people in the library and I told her I do it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody is our side one of the doors, leading through the doors.</s>VALENCIA: Mintz writes that he made his way back into the classroom area where he came face-to-face with the gunman. "He leaned out and started shooting as I turned toward him," he recalled. This is how he describe the shooter. "He was so nonchalant that would all like he was playing a videogame and showed no emotion." Mintz says the shots "Knocked me to the ground and felt like a truck hit me." He then says he was shot again while on the ground and that the gunmen said "That's what you get for calling the cops." Mintz writes in the Facebook post that he told the gunman that he didn't call police and they were already on the way. He then yelled to the gunman "It's my kids' birthday, man." Mintz says "The shooter pointed the gun right at my face and then retreated back into the classroom."</s>MINTZ: Hello, everyone. I'm doing well.</s>VALENCIA: A friend posted this video of Mintz in the hospital. He since been released and has this lingering question. "I'm still confused at why he didn't shoot me again." Mintz said that he decided to post on Facebook because he didn't want to do any on camera interviews. He said this is not about publicity. In fact, he doesn't like being called a hero. He said, that word should be reserved for the first responders. Poppy.</s>HARLOW: Wow. Nick Valencia, thank you. Up next, the hit series "Homeland" gets a real life shocked. But first, meet one of CNN's heroes of 2015, Richard Joyner is the pastor of a small North Carolina town and church where the nearest grocery store is 10 miles away.</s>RICHARD JOYNER, CNN HEROES OF 2015: So, I myself was hearing that we are food desert, we were chronically eerie we're dying and then we found out that growing food calls us to work together. So, it gave us the opportunity to create something that united us. And that we can feel good about.</s>HARLOW: All right. And you can check out all of the top 10 heroes, vote for your favorite at cnnheroes.com. The winner will be announce next month.