Woman Stops Elementary School Gunman Using Sheer Awesomeness

In the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School last December, NRA head Wayne LaPierre famously quipped that the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. I guess no one told Antoinette Tuff, who just yesterday prevented a standoff with a gunman from turning into another tragedy using only the power of her words.

Guys, Antoinette Tuff is such a fucking badass that I can barely contain myself.

Tuff works as a school clerk at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Decatur, Georgia. Yesterday, things took a terrifying turn when she crossed paths with a man armed with an AK-47 and other weapons entering the school building, where 870 students in grades pre-K to 5 were in class. Rather than running away screaming (which is what most humans with normal fear responses would do), she told one local news outlet that she stopped him by simply… talking to him. Just standing there facing a man with a gun that could kill dozens and dozens of people. Telling him stories about her life. Talking about her struggles and telling him that there’s a hell of a lot to live for.

The entire school was evacuated, and the gunman and police exchanged shots, but no one was hurt, and no one was killed.