Story highlights
A Umpqua Community College shooting survivor criticized Ben Carson's comment that the shooting victims could have attacked the gunman
"I'm fairly upset he said that. Nobody could truly understand what actions they would take like that in a situation unless they lived it," 18-year-old Mathew Downing told CNN
An 18-year-old who survived the classroom shooting at Umpqua Community College on Wednesday criticized Ben Carson’s comment that the shooting victims could have attacked the gunman.
“I’m fairly upset he said that. Nobody could truly understand what actions they would take like that in a situation unless they lived it,” Mathew Downing told CNN via Facebook.
Downing was referred to by the shooter as “the lucky one,” during the deadly attack last Thursday. After shooting three people, the gunman paused, turned to Downing and said, “You, with the glasses, you’re the lucky one. If you give this envelope to police, you’ll live.”
Downing was then forced to go to the back of the classroom and watch his classmates get executed.
Carson, a Republican presidential candidate, said on Fox News after the shooting in Oregon that he would’ve done more to prevent the gunman from going on a killing spree.
“Not only would I probably not cooperate with him, I would not just stand there and let him shoot me,” Carson said. “I would say, ‘Hey guys, everybody attack him. He may shoot me, but he can’t get us all.’”
The presidential candidate has since looked to clean up his remarks, saying that he was “not judging (the shooting victims) at all.”