Student praised after officials say he helped avert a school shooting with a call to his father

CINCINNATI (WXIX/Gray News) - A student is being praised community-wide for putting others’ lives before his own to help thwart a planned shooting at a Cincinnati-area high school, officials said.

Zach Swallen says he was at work Tuesday when he got a call from his son Boom.

“I could tell right away that, you know, that something was troubling him and that he needed to tell me something important, like his voice tone,” Swallen recalls about the call.

Swallen said his son told him was that he overheard a classmate talking about carrying out a mass shooting.

As it turned out, that student, a 14-year-old, had a detailed plan, including a hit list, to carry out a mass shooting at Mariemont High School, Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers said Thursday.

“He said that he wanted to protect his classmates and that he didn’t care if the kid - if the kid followed through on his threat on his life, but he wanted his classmates to be safe,” Swallen said.

Now knowing what his son knew, Swallen immediately called the Mariemont Police Department.

“It’s very admirable that he did that, and like I’ve said before: See something, say something, hear something, say something,” Mariemont Chief of Police Richard Hines said. “If we hadn’t gotten the tip, I think we would have had a very bad situation.”

Swallen, when talking about his son’s bravery, said he could not have been more proud.

“He stood up, and that’s heroic of him, and I’m so proud of him. And I’ve always taught him since he was a little guy to protect your peers, to help people to be nice people, to love people,” Swallen said.

The 14-year-old student that Swallen’s son said he overheard planning the shooting was arrested Wednesday at Mariemont High School, Powers said.

He is charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, police said.

In recognition of Boom’s actions, The Uvalde Foundation for Kids said it will present him with its National Student Hero Award.

“The second someone steps in and says something that makes you a hero, that makes an impact on everyone around you and the things that could occur,” said Rebecca Engle, with the Uvalde group. “Because without that voice and if he would’ve just said, ‘Whatever,’ and not get involved in it, a tragedy could’ve gotten way worse.”

The sole mission of the foundation, which was formed in response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas in May 2022, is to end school violence.

Boom’s father said his son is still shaken up by this situation.

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