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| San Bernardino shooting: memorial set for 'amazing' hero Shannon Johnson | San Bernardino shooting: memorial set for 'amazing' hero Shannon Johnson |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The funeral of Shannon Johnson, who was posthumously praised for shielding a co-worker from gunfire during the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, was due to take place in rural Georgia on Saturday. | The funeral of Shannon Johnson, who was posthumously praised for shielding a co-worker from gunfire during the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, was due to take place in rural Georgia on Saturday. |
| Related: San Bernardino: jihadist groups ignored contact attempts by Tashfeen Malik | Related: San Bernardino: jihadist groups ignored contact attempts by Tashfeen Malik |
| The family of the 45-year-old planned a funeral service at a Baptist church in the rural city of Jesup, where the health inspector’s mother and siblings live. | The family of the 45-year-old planned a funeral service at a Baptist church in the rural city of Jesup, where the health inspector’s mother and siblings live. |
| Johnson was sitting next to co-worker Denise Peraza at a holiday luncheon for San Bernardino County environmental health employees on 2 December, when a pair of attackers with assault rifles started shooting. | Johnson was sitting next to co-worker Denise Peraza at a holiday luncheon for San Bernardino County environmental health employees on 2 December, when a pair of attackers with assault rifles started shooting. |
| Peraza said she and Johnson sought cover beneath a table and he wrapped an arm tightly around her and said: “I got you.” | Peraza said she and Johnson sought cover beneath a table and he wrapped an arm tightly around her and said: “I got you.” |
| Johnson was one of 14 people killed in the attack. Peraza was shot in the back, but survived. | Johnson was one of 14 people killed in the attack. Peraza was shot in the back, but survived. |
| “I believe I am still here today because of this amazing man,” she said in a statement soon after the killings. | “I believe I am still here today because of this amazing man,” she said in a statement soon after the killings. |
| Family and friends of two other victims were saying goodbye in southern California, where funerals for Tin Nguyen, 31, and Isaac Amanios, 60, were also planned for Saturday. | Family and friends of two other victims were saying goodbye in southern California, where funerals for Tin Nguyen, 31, and Isaac Amanios, 60, were also planned for Saturday. |
| Johnson’s family said he grew up in Kentucky and Georgia, where he graduated from high school in Macon. He excelled at sports and played baseball in college. | Johnson’s family said he grew up in Kentucky and Georgia, where he graduated from high school in Macon. He excelled at sports and played baseball in college. |
| Johnson spent years driving a tractor-trailer before he resettled in Los Angeles. For the past decade he had worked for the Division of Environmental Health Services in San Bernardino County, a job that required him to wake before sunrise each morning for an hour-plus commute from his Los Angeles apartment. | Johnson spent years driving a tractor-trailer before he resettled in Los Angeles. For the past decade he had worked for the Division of Environmental Health Services in San Bernardino County, a job that required him to wake before sunrise each morning for an hour-plus commute from his Los Angeles apartment. |
| Authorities say Syed Farook, who worked with Johnson and the other victims, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, opened fire at the holiday gathering. They were killed in a gun battle with police. | Authorities say Syed Farook, who worked with Johnson and the other victims, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, opened fire at the holiday gathering. They were killed in a gun battle with police. |
| Rob Johnson, Shannon Johnson’s older brother, said before the funeral on Saturday that it was no surprise his sibling tried to save a co-worker. | |
| “Shannon’s fearless. He’s always been that way,” Rob Johnson told reporters outside Calvary Baptist Church as family and friends gathered. | |
| “I’m sure that when he saw the young lady, he thought of his sister or his girlfriend or his former wife … That’s just the kind of guy he was. He’s a man of action.” | |
| Rob Johnson recalled that several years ago, when wildfires ravaged southern California, his brother refused to evacuate. | |
| “He went around the neighborhood and gathered up all the stray animals, put them in the back of his pickup and took them to the church,” then helped first responders dig a trench around it, he said. | |
| That willingness to take selfless action ran in the Johnson family, he said: Shannon and Rob’s father died in 1978 while saving another man during an industrial accident at a paper mill in Kentucky. | |
| After his brother died, Rob Johnson said, their grandmother remarked: “It’s just kind of what our family does. We save people.” | |
| The family planned to bury Shannon Johnson’s ashes next to his father at a cemetery in Jesup. |