CHARLOTTE, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) – Riley Howell had an athlete’s physique and loved being outdoors on his family’s farm. Ellis Parlier studied computer technology and liked video games.
Both college students were killed Tuesday when a gunman opened fire in their anthropology class at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. Four other students were wounded.
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The family of 21-year-old Howell remembered him in a statement Wednesday as “a big, muscular guy with a huge heart.” Police said Howell was also a hero, having tackled the gunman before he could shoot more people.
A friend of 19-year-old Parlier said he was passionate about video games and had a caring personality. Jeremy Shue told media outlets he had known Parlier since the 6th grade.
“I did not know him. I do not know his family, but I have children. I know them and I love them very much and I sympathize with his parents and I’m praying for them and I’m here for them,” Matthews Presbyterian Church Pastor Luke Maybry said of Parlier.
University Chancellor Philip DuBois said Wednesday the four injured students are expected to recover.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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