Colorado teen Jarell Brooks just wanted to see a movie about superheroes. He didn’t realize, as he entered the fated theater in Aurora to see the latest Batman movie, that he was about to become one.
The 19 year old was ready to high-tail it outa dodge when the gunman opened fire in a packed movie house of midnight-theater goers excited to see The Dark Knight Rises. But as he, along with hundreds of others, rushed for the exits, he noticed Patricia Legarreta, struggling to save her toddler and infant, and suddenly, saving his own life didn’t seem quite as important. Crawling on top of Patricia to protect her and pushing she and her babies out the side exit to safety, Jarell was shot in the thigh, and Patricia was mildly injured with buckshot, but the children were safe, and both Jarell and Patricia have been released from the hospital.
About what Jarell did, Patricia told ABC News, “It makes me feel glad because I felt helpless. Everybody at that moment was going through it, and to know that someone had that mindset, it makes me feel happy to know that in times of trial, there are good people out there.”