Hero Saved Cafe Patrons in Seattle Massacre

A hero saved three lives by hurling barstools at a deadly gunman when he opened fire in a Seattle cafe, police say. "I just threw the frigging stool at him, legs first," the man told police, saying that after his brother died in the World Trade Center attack, "I promised myself" that if something like this ever happened, "I would never hide under a table," CNN reports. The man's actions allowed three people whose exit had been blocked by the gunman to escape the shooting in the Cafe Racer coffeehouse, according to cops.

Gunman Ian Stawicki's shooting spree killed five people, including two members of local folk band God's Favorite Beefcake, who were found dead in the coffeehouse. Investigators say Stawicki, who fatally shot himself as police closed in, owned at least six handguns, including one bought just after he was cleared of domestic violence charges, and had held concealed weapons permits since 1996, reports the Seattle Times. (More Seattle stories.)