James Shaw Jr., the man who grabbed a gun from the Waffle House shooter last month, appeared on “The Ellen Show” today and met his idol, Dwyane Wade.
“I know you don’t want to be called a hero, but I look at you as an American hero,” the NBA player told Shaw.
When a gunman entered an Antioch, Tennesee, diner and opened fire, Shaw wrestled a rifle away from the gunman and tossed it over the counter before shoving the shooter out the door. Shaw has been hailed as a hero for bringing an end to the tragic events that left four people dead.
“When I sit down with my kids and I sit down and talk to them about role models and who I want them to look up to, I tell them to go look up James Shaw Jr.,” Wade said.
The surprises for Shaw didn’t stop there. Wade then presented Shaw with a check for $20,000.
Earlier in the show, Shaw recounted the events that unfolded at the Waffle House on April 22.
“You see him reloading and you think, that’s my chance to go at him?” said Ellen DeGeneres.
“Yes, I had a voice in my head that said ‘do it now, do it now,'” Shaw said.
The encounter left Shaw with a burn on his hand and a wound on his elbow where a bullet grazed it.
“Wow, you’re a brave man,” said DeGeneres. “You’re a really brave man.”
DeGeneres then presented him with another check, this one for $225,000, which included money raised for him on a GoFundMe account and an additional $20,000 from Shutterfly, an online photo products service.
