Kendrick Castillo died rushing the shooter from the Colorado School

The 18-year-old was watching "The Princess Bride" in his class of British literature when the shooter pulled out a gun, demanding that no one move. After Kendrick threw himself on the shooter, three other students also attacked the shooter and tried to control him while the rest of the class left the room.

Kendrick was an only child, but his friends, including members of the school's robotics team, looked like his siblings, said his father. They organized holiday gift exchanges at his home, shared his toys as a child and paid for a friend 's movie tickets if someone did not have money.

"Be selfless, that's what my son was, and it did kill him, but he saved the others," Castillo said.

"He was extraordinary"

Kendrick grew up speaking English and Spanish in the suburbs of Denver and attended a Catholic school for the first time. He also spent time fishing and camping with his late grandfather – who had been in the Marines.

"Kendrick was proud of him, proud that his grandfather was a hero," said Castillo. "Part of me knows that Kendrick wanted to live this legacy."

The teenager had kept the flag that once placed his grandfather's casket next to him and prayed and kissed his tombstone at the Fort Logan National Cemetery.

"He loved patriotism," said Castillo. "We are Hispanic by nature, but we love America deep within him."

Castillo and his wife Maria were not surprised to learn that their son was running towards danger. They have raised him so that he is responsible and "good."

"It was not your average child," Castillo said. "He was extraordinary."

He refused to be a victim

Kendrick was about a foot from the shooter and he immediately went into action, said Brendan Bialy, one of the other students who jumped the gunman.

"Kendrick Castillo died of a legend.He died of a soldier," said Bialy. "I know he'll be with me for the rest of my life."

After Bialy managed to pull the gun away from the shooter, he checked Kendrick and tried to make him talk, but he did not move. He remembers helping a teacher who had entered the room and tried to provide medical help.

"I refused to be a victim.Kendrick refused to be a victim.The other students refused to be a victim," he said.

They did exactly what they were supposed to do, according to experts. Where once people were advised to flee or shelter on the spot, the new mantra to survive an active shooter situation is "Run, hide, fight".

The moment they learned the sacrifice of their son

Shortly after the shooting, Castillo and his wife Maria were desperately trying to reach Kendrick on his mobile phone. At first, they thought that their son may have been hurt, but they became more worried when he did not ask them for their text messages or calls.

"I was a little guilty, because I was trying to call it, but I thought maybe it was a bad thing, maybe I would put his life in." in danger by ringing the phone, "said Castillo. "My anxiety and the size in my chest were growing."

One of Kendrick's friends sent a text message to Castillo telling him that Kendrick had rushed to the gunman, but that he did not know what to think of it. They watched the other students come out of the yellow school buses and meet their parents, "and we did not have one," said Castillo.

"I could not believe it was happening to my son," said Castillo.

The couple learned that Kendrick was killed when they went to the hospital to pick him up and officials told them that his body was still in the classroom. While waiting to see their son, students called them a hero.

While Castillo and his wife mourn their son, he says that they wish Kendrick's classmates to heal, go to university, get married and melt their family surrounded by love.