--- title: Man Who Tackled Waffle House Gunman Says He's 'Not a Hero' | TIME description: The man who snatched an AR-15 rifle from a gunman at a busy Tennessee restaurant says his was a “selfish” act of self-preservation and he doesn’t consider himself a hero canonical: https://time.com/video/EuchFkSV/ og:title: Man Who Tackled Waffle House Gunman Says He's 'Not a Hero' og:description: The man who snatched an AR-15 rifle from a gunman at a busy Tennessee restaurant says his was a “selfish” act of self-preservation and he doesn’t consider himself a hero og:url: https://time.com/video/EuchFkSV/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EuchFkSV/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Man Who Tackled Waffle House Gunman Says He's 'Not a Hero' twitter:description: The man who snatched an AR-15 rifle from a gunman at a busy Tennessee restaurant says his was a “selfish” act of self-preservation and he doesn’t consider himself a hero twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EuchFkSV/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Man Who Tackled Waffle House Gunman Says He's 'Not a Hero' > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Man Who Tackled Waffle House Gunman Says He's 'Not a Hero' [Watch (HLS stream): Man Who Tackled Waffle House Gunman Says He's 'Not a Hero'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EuchFkSV.m3u8) (1:53)  _Published 2018-04-23. The man who snatched an AR-15 rifle from a gunman at a busy Tennessee restaurant says his was a “selfish” act of self-preservation and he doesn’t consider himself a hero_ --- Jul 27, 2023 11:50 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Surveillance Footage Shows Okla. High School Principal Tackling Gunman](/video/QVo3ByF9/) ### Surveillance Footage Shows Okla. High School Principal Tackling Gunman ["Hero" Bystander who Tackled Bondi Beach Gunman Identified by Relatives](/video/YDGybWKA/) ### "Hero" Bystander who Tackled Bondi Beach Gunman Identified by Relatives [Gunman With Rifle Kills 2 People on Houston Freeway in Rush Hour Traffic – Then Escapes](/video/hLzqSQ0J/) ### Gunman With Rifle Kills 2 People on Houston Freeway in Rush Hour Traffic – Then Escapes --- ## Transcript So I'm not a hero. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] I'm just a regular person, and I think, [ SOUND ] And I think anybody could have did what I did if they were just pushed in that kind of cage. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] You have to either react, or you have to, or you're gonna fold. And I chose to react, because I didn't see any other way of me living. And that's all I wanted to do. I just wanted to live. And I'll say it again, I didn't really Fight that man to save everybody else. I know that might not be a popular thing, but I'm really honest. I'm gonna be honest to the core. I took the guns so I could get myself out. And then I went back for my friend after I was like, let me see if he is still alive, cuz it was just so fast, like [ BLANK_AUDIO ] I don't think, [ SOUND ] I hope nobody ever has to be in those shoes again, but it was almost like light- switch type fast. Like you hit a light switch and the light's on, so fast. And you have to think And so that was my fault in that moment. Thank you James. Yes, sir. Thank you man. [ APPLAUSE ] So I'm gonna disagree with James just a little Some people get labeled a hero because of the circumstances they caught up in. But a real definition of a hero is someone that knows the danger that they're facing and yet takes that action. 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