Jokers to the Right.com: Heroes in an Uncertain Time

This week I will not be having the "traditional" Hero/Hack post, but rather will just focus on the stories of heroes who acted on instinct to save lives Monday at Virginia Tech.

First:

Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, threw himself in front of the shooter when the man attempted to enter his classroom. The Israeli mechanics and engineering lecturer was shot to death, "but all the students lived - because of him," Virginia Tech student Asael Arad - also an Israeli - told Army Radio.
Several of Librescu's other students sent e-mails to his wife, Marlena, telling of how he had blocked the gunman's way and saved their lives, said Librescu's son, Joe.

Zach Petkewicz:

"The girls in my class peeked out in the hall and saw a gunner come out of a classroom with his gun pointed down," Petkewicz told CNN.
"They immediately slammed the door shut, told us, everybody kind of went into a frenzy, a panic. I hid behind the podium and then just kind of looked up at the door. Like, there's nothing stopping this guy from just coming in. And so I said, 'We need to barricade this door.' "
Petkewicz described his state of mind unabashedly: "I was completely scared out of my mind originally, just went into a cowering position, and then just realized you have got to do something."
Petkewicz and two other students shoved a table against the door and held it there as gunshots continued to ring out from the hallway outside the classroom.
"He came to our door, tried the handle and couldn't get in because we were pushing up against it -- and tried to force his way in and got the door to open up about 6 inches -- and then we just lunged at it and closed it back up and that's when he backed up and shot twice into the middle of the door, thinking we were up against it trying to get him out."

Derek O'Dell:

While bullets flew for some 10 minutes, three students took turns barricading the door - Derek, a young man who wasn't hurt, and a young woman who'd been shot in her hand.
They heard still more shots down the halls.
And as they crouched in fear, the madman came back.
He pushed against the door, getting it open an inch. But Derek shoved it back.
So he shot five or six rounds into the door. Thankfully, no one was hit.
Still holding the door shut, Derek fashioned a tourniquet with his belt to stop the bleeding in his arm.
Then, the gunman came back a third time.
"He could hear us talking," said Derek. But this time, he could not get the door open at all.