Slain US student had saved lives tackling gunman: police chief

A 21-year-old student gave his life to save others by tackling a gunman who was shooting up a university classroom, police in the US said Wednesday.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said the authorities were still trying to find a motive for Tuesday's attack at the University of North Carolina, which left undergraduate Riley Howell and another student dead.

Trystan Terrell, 22, a former student, was arrested following the shooting at the school's Charlotte campus, which also left four wounded. Putney said he had spoken to Howell's father about the youngster's heroism.

"When I spoke to the father -- one father to another -- I told him personally, I wished I had words," he said.

"What I did tell him is, we're committed to the work, we're going to get to the bottom of it. We assured him we're going to find out the why," Putney said.

"We're going to give them closure." The officer said Howell, an environmental studies major from Waynesville, North Carolina, had taken the assailant "off his feet."