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May 22, 2019
Parkrose Coach a True Hero
C ontinued from f ront
“I was just really shocked. I’m
still shocked. I never expected
that to happen here. I don’t think
anyone did,” Clayton Espenel, a
junior at the school who was in
one building over when the gun
scare took place, told the Portland
Observer.
When asked what his reaction
to the fact that Parkrose Football
Coach Keanon Lowe disarmed the
gunman, Espenel said: “I’m just
really thankful, I’m sure everyone
here at the school is.”
The school held its regularly
scheduled prom Saturday and this
week seniors will pick up their cap
and gowns from the main lobby as
the regular school year is quickly
coming to an end.
That the incident didn’t es-
calate to something much more
horrific is thanks to two students
who informed a staff member of
concerning behavior from one of
their classmates. Lowe, also the
school’s track coach and a securi-
ty guard, then located 19-year-old
Angel Granados-Diaz and was
able to wrestle Granados-Diaz to
the ground and remove the shot-
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gun he was carrying.
Granados-Diaz was charged
Monday in Multnomah County
Circuit Court with two counts of
possessing a firearm or dangerous
weapon inside a public building,
one count of being in possession
of a loaded firearm in public and
one count of recklessly endanger-
ing.
A former college football star
at University of Oregon, Lowe
has since received nationwide
praise for his actions. He received
a complimentary basketball game
ticket from Portland Trail Blazer
guard Damian Lillard, who called
Lowe’s intervention “a real hero
move.” Lillard supports Parkrose
as one of three local schools for
his RESPECT program.
“I stopped a full-on school
shooting. And when I say that,
it’s unbelievable. Unbelievable,”
Lowe told The Athletic reporter
Jason Quick at Saturday’s Game 3
of the Western Conference Finals
at the Moda Center. Steve Kerr,
head coach for the Blazers oppo-
nents in that game, the Golden
State Warriors, had also thanked
Lowe for his “remarkable act of
courage.”
Crowell Center Opens
C ontinued from P age 3
single African American woman
in Oregon to adopt children, and
the first African American presi-
dent of the Portland YWCA. She
also served a term on the Portland
Public Schools Board, and lent fi-
nancial support to a number of lo-
cal grade-school and college stu-
dents. Crowell, who passed away
Lowe recounted that the inci-
dent started with what seemed to
be “just a routine call to go grab
a student.”
Within 10-15 seconds of when
Lowe entered a classroom in the
fine arts building of the school,
“the door opens and there’s a
student with a gun,” he said in
an interview with Good Morning
America.
In what he described as “the
longest fraction of a second of my
life,” Lowe lunged for the weap-
on, wrestled the gunman to the
ground, and eventually separated
the shotgun from him, as students
ran for cover during what became
a lock-down situation.
“When confronted with the test
the universe presented me with, I
didn’t see any other choice but to
act. Thank God, I passed,” Lowe
recalled on Twitter.
“Everyone should know that
Keanon is a hero because of the
way he shows up to support these
kids every day, not just today,” a
fellow track coach at Parkrose,
Olivia Katbi Smith, Tweeted Fri-
day.
C ontinued on P age 11
in 2017, has an endowed scholar-
ship at the PCC Foundation dedi-
cated to assisting African Ameri-
can students at the college.
“It’s an honor for us to host
this tribute to Evie and the com-
munity she loved so much,” Ed-
wards said. “We hope that, as the
years go by, the Center will grow
and evolve to reflect the continu-
ing history of African Americans
in Portland.”
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Or by phone ~ 503 283-6312
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at 503 284-0535
THE APPLICATION DEADLINE
IS MIDNIGHT, JUNE 15, 2019
The Della Mae Johnson
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2216 NE Killingsworth
Portland, OR 97211