Tragedy struck Sparks, Nevada on Monday October 21^st.

At 7:15 am at Sparks Middle school, in a town just outside of Reno, a 12-year-old boy opened fire on his class mates. He shot one class mate in the shoulder and another in the abdomen.  Those students are now in stable condition.  Sparks student, Jose Cazares said on the TODAY show Tuesday that one of those wounded student’s pleaded for his life.

“He didn’t say nothing,” Cazares said. “He just kept on shooting them”.

The shooter continued on and ran into math teacher Michael Landsberry, who had stepped in front of a crowd of kids. Police investigators say that Landsberry tried to calm the boy down, asking him to “please drop the gun.”   Several students got away as he did. Cazares saw everything unfold and told the TODAY show, “[Landsberry] was telling him to stop and put the gun down , and then the kid , he yelled out ‘No!’ like yelling at him , and then he shot him ,” Cazares explained “[Landsberry] was calm and he was holding out his hand like, ‘Put the gun in my hand,’ like to just stop”.

The shot fired killed Landsberry. Soon after the 12-year old boy, who remains unnamed, shot himself in the head.

The boy is thought to have brought the hand gun from home; police say that his parents are fully cooperating.

Parents, students, and law enforcement are hailing Lansberry as a hero.  His actions weren’t surprising to his brother Reggie, who told NBC Nightly News, “It is unlucky, you know, doggone it’s sickening, but in hindsight, thank goodness Mike was there cause it could have been a lot worse”.

Police still don’t know why the 12-year-old Sparks student opened fire on his classmates, nor do the classmates themselves. As the investigation continues, student’s look back on the times they shared with the teacher they loved.

On the schools webpage for his math class, Landsberry had only one rule for his students: “Thou Shall Not Annoy Mr.L”

Friends and family gathered at St.Paul’s Episcopal Church for a prayer service, a candle light vigil is planned for later in the week.

“He cared about everyone in the school like they were his student. He loved everyone, he wanted to protect everyone,” Jeremy Hannah, a former student of Landsberrys told NBC News.

Michael Landsberry, a former Marine and member of the Nevada Air National Guard, who served as an air transportation specialist in Afghanistan, is survived by his wife and two step daughters.