© 2026 ABC News

Ryan Mackman of West Palm Beach said he graduated with Feis from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 1999.

\"PHOTO:
Courtesy Ryan Mackman
PHOTO: Aaron Feis is pictured in this 1999 yearbook from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
>

\"I never thought something like this could happen,\" Mackman, now 37, told ABC News. \"The whole community is just stunned.\"

Mackman said he heard from other former classmates who were close to Feis that he was apparently shot while shielding students from the spray of bullets.

\"He was always a really good guy,\" Mackman said. \"But the fact that he died saving lives, the guy's a hero. There's no two ways about it. He was always a giving guy, he was always there for people, he had a big heart. That showed all the way to the end.\"

Head football coach Willis May told \"Good Morning America\" last week, “I didn't want to believe it, I didn't want it to be true. I love him ... things are going to be real hard to go back to school and not see my buddy.”

\"PHOTO:
Facebook via AP
PHOTO: Aaron Feis a football coach at Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., is seen here in this undated file photo.
>

May called Feis a “hero” even before the deadly shooting.

“He didn't need to get shot to be a hero,\" May said. \"He was a hero every day because people looked up to him, respected him.\"

\"PHOTO:
Jonathan Drake/Reuters
PHOTO: A message about grief counseling appears on the electronic signboard at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School one day after a shooting at the school left 17 dead in Parkland, Fla. Feb. 15, 2018.
>

\"It's not a high-paying job,” May said, “but if you can change somebody's life, you know, and make him into a better person, that's what it's all about.”

Football player Patrick Scullen added, “He always put a smile on my face every single day.\"

ABC News' Morgan Winsor and Kelly McCarthy contributed to this report.

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