Pender firefighters add UNCC hero shooting victim to gear, duty roster

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The sad events on the campus of UNC Charlotte have shaken our state.

Firefighters in Pender County are honoring the memory of one of the victims of the shooting Thursday, one that has been hailed a hero.

21-year-old Riley Howell was one of two students killed in a shooting at the university Tuesday. Police say Howell jumped on the shooter in an attempt to stop him.

After learning he was interested in possibly becoming a firefighter or joining the military, Pender EMS & Fire added his name to their duty rosters across the county.

Pender County Fire & EMS posted pictures of the department’s assignment boards and helmets with his last name on them.

“Thank you Riley for paying it all so others may live!” one firefighter said.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said Howell “took the assailant off his feet,” but was fatally wounded. He said Howell did what police train people to do in active shooter situations.

“You’re either going to run, you’re going to hide and shield, or you’re going to take the fight to the assailant. Having no place to run and hide, he did the last. But for his work, the assailant may not have been disarmed,” Putney said. “Unfortunately, he gave his life in the process. But his sacrifice saved lives.”

The father of Howell’s longtime girlfriend said news that he tackled the shooter wasn’t surprising. Kevin Westmoreland, whose daughter Lauren dated Howell for nearly six years, said Howell was athletic and compassionate — and would have been a good firefighter or paramedic.

“If Lauren was with Riley, he would step in front of a train for her if he had to,” Westmoreland said. “I didn’t realize it might come to that for somebody else.”

In a statement, Howell’s family remembered him as a big-hearted person who was friends with everyone.

“He always was able to put others before himself and never hesitated to help anyone who needed it,” the statement read.