Virginia Beach HERO: Ryan Keith Cox - ‘Good Christian man’ saved 7 people in shooting

Ryan Keith Cox

Guided Others To Safety Before He Was Murdered

"...Dewar said she was interviewed by police and told them that Cox saved lives.

"He acted as a leader," Dewar said. "He positioned himself to be the one who would see what was happening and what needed to be done and where we needed to go. He took control of the situation."

Keith Cox remembered as 'good Christian man'

...Dewar said Cox was a "good Christian man" and that he was renowned for singing at New Hope Baptist Church, where his father was also a singer."

John 15 English Standard Version (ESV)

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Survivor: ‘Good Christian man’ took control, saved 7 people in Virginia Beach shooting

POSTED 11:30 PM, JUNE 2, 2019, BY WEB STAFF, UPDATED AT 09:31AM, JUNE 3, 2019

"...At first Dewar thought it was just construction noise, but then a colleague alerted she and her colleagues about the active shooter and told them to run out of the building.

"We started running towards the south staircase," Dewar recounted. "Somebody screamed, 'It's too late -- run the other way!'"

In the harrowing seconds that followed, the group of seven turned and met Cox. Dewar said he calmly directed the group into a nearby office, but refused to join them.

"I said, 'Keith, come on!'" Dewar remembered. "He said, 'I need to check on some other people.' He didn't come in with us."

Then the group heard gunshots outside the door. Dewar said the shooter fired four times nearby.

After a little while, a police officer announced he was outside, so one of the group opened the door slightly.

That was when one of the group saw Cox's body.

"It breaks my heart," she said."

See also: 

Mass shooting at Virginia Beach Municipal Center