Alek Skarlatos, one of three Americans who overpowered a would-be terrorist on a train in Europe this summer, was a student at Umpqua Community College, scene of a mass shooting earlier today.
Skarlatos, who is from the tight-knit community in southern Oregon, was enrolled for classes this fall prior to the train incident. But because of that incident, and the celebrity that followed, Skarlatos was selected as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, and deferred the courses. He was in DWTS rehearsals today when he heard about the shooting.
He phoned into On the Record with Greta Van Susteren tonight, telling Greta, “I would have been there today if the train hadn’t happened.” Many of his friends attend school there and his step-mother once worked at UCC.