Church member talks about tackling and tying up shooter

One of the men who tackled and tied up the shooter while they waited for police is talking about that horrific morning for the first time.

John Bohstedt is a retired UT professor and former President of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Now, fellow church members see him as one of many heroes who made a difference on Sunday.

Bohstedt was president when the church was built in 1997. He said it took four years to go through the process that both tested and strengthened the congregation.

"That church is my home. Hundreds of families have built that place, it is a a real home. Our blood and sweat and tears literally are in that building."

But on Sunday, Bohstedt was waiting to take the stage as Daddy Warbucks in Annie Jr., when he saw a stranger pull a gun out of a guitar case.

"The only thing I saw was tunnel vision, was his hands on the weapon and I was determined that I was going to get my hands on that weapon and point it toward the ceiling," Bohstedt said.

With the help of several men, Bohstedt says they brought the shooter down. That's when he looked for something to tie him up. "The only thing I could see right away was a a lightweight nylon jacket, so I grabbed that and rushed back to where he was and tied it with a good Boy Scout double square knot around his ankles."

Bohstedt is still wearing his Daddy Warbucks hat as a reminder that instinct stepped in that morning.

"I have a deep gratitude that I was able to do what I would have wanted myself to do."

However, he is quick to admit that heroism was in abundant supply the morning gunfire ripped through his church.

"A lot of people in that sanctuary were doing a lot of heroic things," Boehstedt remembered. "They were covering their children with their bodies, they were leading the children out of the sanctuary, they were immediately rushing over to the victims to try to help them."

Bohstedt says the ones who helped him get on the road to healing are the children of his church. They spontaneously began singing "Tomorrow" at a gathering the day after the shooting.