CHARDON, Ohio — Ten years ago, on Feb. 27, 2012, a teenage boy opened fire inside a crowded cafeteria inside Chardon High School. Three students -- Danny Parmertor, Russell King Jr., and Demetrius Hewlin -- were killed, while three others were wounded.
Assistant football coach and educational aide Frank Hall was there that day, and his actions saved a number of lives. Hall chased the shooter out of the school, then went back inside the cafeteria to pray with the victims. Ever since, he has dedicated his life to preventing similar attacks.
Hall reflects on that fateful day often, but thinks more about the lives it took forever.
"It's thinking about Danny's joking around or Russell talking about hunting or fishing or Demetrius asking about a lift or working out," he told 3News. "Any time you think about stuff like that, it kind of hits home, and you think about, like, you know, they lost two lives that day. They lost a life that they were living and they lost a life that they were going to live.
"It's tough, you know? I just wish I could have done more."
CHARDON 10 YEARS LATER: Danny Parmertor's legacy
Hall has been called a hero often and was even featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but he says he was just doing his job.
"People throw out 'hero' a lot," he said, "but I know this: God doesn't call the qualified, but he qualifies the called, and I think he was with us that day."
Motivated by what they lived through, Hall, former head wrestling coach Tim Armelli, and others vowed to take a stand against violence in schools. Thus, the Coach Hall Foundation was born.
"We wanted to do something, you know?" Hall explained. "We wanted to help people that were in this situation and to take what we learned and share that with people to let them know that training works, training saves lives."
The Coach Hall Foundation has visited schools across the country, speaking to students and school officials. Hall himself says he is still angry that school shootings happen, but he channels that anger into positive change through the Foundation.
Hall and his team were instrumental in passing Ohio House Bill 318 in 2018, which earmarks funding for mental health and school safety initiatives. He even ran for office in 2020.
"I love to serve the community," he said. "Hopefully someday I get that opportunity."
For now, though, that starts with helping students.
"Our kids haven't changed," he stated. "Us adults have changed, and we need to get back to letting our kids know that solving a temporary problem with a permanent solution isn't the way to go, whether it's suicide or gun violence or drug violence or whatever it may be. You're feeling bad, and it's okay to feel bad. Just pull your bootstraps up and find somebody and talk about it."
Hall said he's thankful for the people he can lean on in those times: his wife, nine adopted children, and the community they call home. Daily, he focuses on those blessings.
"I'm so blessed," he told us, emotionally.
Chardon embraced the mantra "One Heartbeat" as the community united in the darkest days of 2012. Coach Hall wants other communities to find that strength without experiencing the tragedy.
"You see how they're struggling, but we had our struggles, you know? We fought hard to bring our community back," Hall said. "We've been fortunate to have a lot of great people in this community stand up and help us out and just how we persevered and just accomplished a lot since then, and we always do it with Danny, Demetrius, and Russell in the back of our minds and in our hearts, at least I do."