PORTLAND, Ore. -- A former college football standout at the University of Oregon was credited Friday with tackling an armed student at a Portland high school before anyone was injured.
Keanon Lowe is now a football and track and field coach and security guard at Parkrose High School. He told reporters as he was leaving a police interview late Friday that he was tired but relieved at the outcome, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Police released the identity of the 18-year-old student on Saturday. Angel Granados Dias has been booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on suspicion of possessing a firearm in a public building, attempting to shoot a gun at a school and reckless endangerment, the Portland Police Bureau said.
There are no other suspects. Portland Police spokesman Sgt. Brad Yakots declined to confirm Lowe's reported involvement.
"I'm just happy everyone was OK,'' Lowe said as he walked out of the school about four hours after the incident, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive. "I'm happy I was able to be there for the kids and for the community.''
Lowe thanked Portland Police on social media Saturday and said he feels blessed to be alive and happy that no one was hurt.
When confronted with the test the universe presented me with, I didn't see any other choice but to act. Thank God, I passed. I've spent the last 24 hours being more appreciative of my family and realizing we have a serious problem.
— Keanon Lowe (@KeanonLowe) May 18, 2019
Parkrose School District Superintendent Michael Lopes-Serrao said in a letter to families Friday evening that before the incident, two students informed a staff member of "concerning behavior'' by the armed student.
Security staff then responded, found the student and quickly disarmed him, he said.
"Thanks to their heroic efforts all students and staff are safe,'' Lopes-Serrao wrote.
Yakots, the police spokesman, said the first responding officers found the gunman being detained by the staff member in the hallway. A firearm was recovered at the school, he added.
Parkrose High was evacuated, and a nearby middle school was on lockdown for several hours as the investigation unfolded. The high school students were bused to a nearby parking lot, where they were reunited with their parents.
The outcome was "the best-case scenario -- absolutely,'' Yakots said. "The staff member did an excellent job by all accounts, [and] our officers arrived within minutes and went right in.''
Students recounted that the student entered their government class in the school's fine arts building -- separate from the main building -- just before noon. Lowe had been in the classroom earlier looking for the student, whom other students identified as an 18-year-old senior at Parkrose.
About 10 minutes before the end of class, the student appeared in the doorway in a black trench coat and pulled a long gun from beneath his coat, senior Justyn Wilcox, who also was in the room, told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
The student didn't point the gun at anyone, Alexa Pope said.
Students fled out the back door because the gunman was blocking the main doorway.
"As I was running, I was just like, 'Lord, don't let this be it,''' Pope told the newspaper.
In college, Lowe was a standout wide receiver at the University of Oregon, playing from 2011 to 2014. He caught 10 touchdown passes in his college career and had nearly 900 receiving yards, and he saw playing time on special teams.
After college, Lowe worked as an offensive analyst for the San Francisco 49ers and as an analyst for the Philadelphia Eagles.
He began working at Parkrose last year as the school's head football and track and field coach, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that, he worked for his high school alma mater, Portland's Jesuit High School, where he earned state defensive player of the year honors as a defensive back and was a standout sprinter.
Students, parents and coworkers lauded Lowe's actions on Twitter, calling him a hero. Several noted that the school's prom, scheduled for Saturday, is still on.
Olivia Katbi Smith wrote on Twitter that she coaches track with Lowe at Parkrose and wasn't surprised to learn what he did.
"As soon as I heard what happened I knew it was him because he would do anything for these kids. It was surreal to be waiting for my athletes behind caution tape today, but might have been much worse if not for Keanon,'' she wrote.
Lopes-Serrao said the student with the gun will not be returning to school, and school will resume on Monday with an enhanced security presence.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.