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DENVER – An armed security guard, employed privately by STEM School Highlands Ranch, helped apprehend one of the shooters Tuesday.

“He probably saved more lives than he thinks he did,” said Tyler Christensen, an 8th-grade student who was near the gunshots. “It makes him a hero. To me, he is a hero.”

FOX31 confirmed the security guard was employed through BOSS High Level Protection. 

BOSS is a local security agency which contracts with private and charter schools.

“Our guy was instrumental in taking down one of the shooters and we believed he saved a lot of lives,” said Grant Whitus, the owner of BOSS.

While Whitus doesn’t want to name his guard right now, he says he is cooperating with the police investigation.

Full coverage of STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting

Whitus also says the guard is a veteran of Marines and a former Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputy. Whitus says the man has been a private security guard for about a year.

“He is so upset about children being hurt, he loves that school, he loves the children there and his heart is breaking he couldn’t do more,” Whitus said. “I assured him there is only so much one person can do.”

Whitus emphasized he hopes the shooting re-starts the conversation about the need for security in schools.