A Star Wars fan has been honored by Lucasfilm ltd.
after sacrificing his own life to stop a school shooter who opened fire at his university.
21-year-old Riley Howell has been dubbed a hero by people from around the world following his brave actions that, sadly, cost him his life.
The young man passed away on April 30, 2019, after a gunman started shooting inside the classroom where Riley was studying.
Rather than cowering in fear, the 21-year-old charged the attacker and helped in bringing him to a stop. In the process of protecting his classmates, however, he suffered fatal injuries.
“You’re either going to run, hide and shield, or you’re going to take the fight to the assailant. Having no place to run and hide, he did the last,” Police Chief Kerr Putney expressed after the incident.
Attending the young man’s funeral were over 1,500 people who wanted to honor Riley for his selfless actions.
After his story went viral, the 21-year-old was also honored by Lucasfilm Ltd., the creators of Star Wars, who immortalized his name by naming him a Jedi Master and incorporating him in the 2019’s hit Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
“Riley’s courage and selflessness brings out the Jedi in all of us. We hope you may rejoice in his memory and we join you in honoring his life and example,” Lucas O. Seastrom of Lucasfilm Ltd. said in a letter sent to the funeral home in charge of Riley’s burial.
“As a small tribute, out Story Group has incorporated a re-imaging of Riley’s name as a character in the Star Wars galaxy.”
Following months after the promise, on December 20, 2019, a character named Ri-Lee Howell appeared in The Visual Dictionary of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
According to the creators, Ri-Lee was a “Jedi Master and Historian of the Jedi Order” who is associated with “many of the earliest accounts of exploration and codifications of The Force.”
“I think he would really be appreciative of that,” the young man’s mum, Natalie Henry-Howell, said in an interview with Charlotte Observer.
“Because, you know, they could have just said Ri-Lee – Jedi Ri-Lee – and we´d be guessing the whole time about whether or not that was really (him), but they put his last name in there just to really honor him … and that really made me cry when I heard about it.”
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Replaced!