The shooting at Mattoon High School was among one of the topics talked about at Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting, where math and physical education teacher Angela McQueen was praised for being the one to step in and subdue the shooter.

At approximately 11:32 a.m. Wednesday morning, the Mattoon Police Department responded to multiple calls of shots fired at Mattoon High School.

The suspect fired shots in the school cafeteria, injuring one student, who is in stable condition.

He was then subdued by a teacher and disarmed by the school resource officer.

Eastern President David Glassman said the shooting was a terrible tragedy, and the university has reached out to Mattoon High School leadership to offer help.

“It’s a very, very sad situation, but I believe that the school handled it extremely well,” Glassman said.

He added that Mattoon High School “certainly had a hero” in McQueen.

“Things could have been much worse if that hadn’t happened,” he said.

Board of Trustees chair Joe Dively, wearing a yellow and green tie to honor the Mattoon school colors, said what could have been a really tragic event was circumvented by McQueen.

McQueen is an alumna of Eastern, receiving three degrees from the university.

“There’s no question in my mind that she is a hero, and I believe some type of recognition from EIU is warranted,” Glassman said. “I think she’s certainly deserving (of some honor.)” However, he had not yet been able to reach out to McQueen at the time of the meeting.

Cassie Buchman can be reached at 581-2812 or cjbuchman@eiu.edu