CLOSE In his first public comments since the shooting at Noblesville West Middle School, 'hero' teacher Jason Seaman thanked the community, Monday, May 28, 2018. Kelly Wilkinson, kelly.wilkinson@indystar.com 
 
 Buy Photo Noblesville West Middle School science teacher Jason Seaman is greeted by his students, over a fence, at the IHSAA baseball championships, the Noblesville vs Hamilton Southeastern game, Monday, May 28, 2018. This is the first time his students have seen him since Friday May 25's school shooting. When a student opened fire in the seventh grade science classroom, Seaman intervened to stop the shooter from shooting more students. He and one student were shot in the incident. He was shot three times. He told the students he couldn't hug them just yet, because he was still a little tender, but he could high five them. (Photo: Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar)Buy Photo 
 
 Everyone at Dunker Field Monday in Noblesville realized it could have been a very different game if not for Jason Seaman’s brave actions three days earlier. 
 
 They knew what the Noblesville West Middle School teacher had done Friday. How he had tackled the student who started shooting in his seventh-grade science classroom that morning. 
 
 How he stayed by the side of the one girl injured by those bullets. 
 
 How he had taken bullets himself. 
 
 How if not for him it could have been much much worse. How many young lives could have been lost. How his life could have been lost. How this game could have been played in the shadow of great tragedy, if it were played at all. 
 
 Instead, thanks to Seaman, this wounded community was beginning to heal, hundreds of people pouring into the sectional championship game to cheer as the Noblesville High School Millers took on the Hamilton Southeastern Royals. 
 
 But the loudest cheers by far went to Seaman himself, who sat with his family under a tent by right field, sequestered from the crowds. 
 
 Before the game, Seaman held a press conference at which he delivered brief remarks, thanking those who responded on Friday. 
 
 He downplayed his own heroism, saying that “my actions on that day, in my mind, were the only acceptable acts,” adding, “I deeply care for my students.” 
 
 One of those students, Ella Whistler, remains hospitalized at Riley Hospital for Children, and is making progress, Noblesville Schools Superintendent Beth Niedermeyer said Monday. 
 
 Ella stayed “alert and calm” as she waited for help to arrive on Friday morning, Seaman said. 
 
 “Her courage and strength is nothing short of remarkable,” he added. 
 
 Garbed in a T-shirt with his now signature quote — “You Are the Reason I Teach” — stretched across his broad chest, Seaman looked healthy as he stood at the podium addressing media. 
 
 The shirt also bears the number 91 — the number he wore when he played on the defensive line for Southern Illinois University. The initials EW appear in italics along with the name of the show choir in which Ella performs. 
 
 “I’m still processing much of what has happened, but I can say with absolute certainty that I’m proud to be a Miller,” Seaman told the media gathered. 
 
 Then he headed to the game, where he received a special tribute. 
 
 Noblesville school shooting: 'Hero' teacher recovering at home and teen victim 'stable' 
 
 What we know about: Noblesville teacher Jason Seaman 
 
 Past and present students along with community members crowded into the stands to celebrate their new hero. 
 
 Originally, Noblesville Schools planned to move the games to another location, but then decided to use this as an opportunity to rally support for Ella and Seaman. 
 
 The sectional championships normally draw about 1,000 people, said Noblesville athletic director Leah Wooldridge. A week ago she and the assistant athletic director planned to arrive around 8 a.m. for the championships that started at 10 a.m. 
 
 Instead, she found herself at the field at 5:15 Monday morning, preparing for the wave of people that started to build an hour before the game. 
 
 Around 7 a.m., the special commemorative T-shirt went on sale. Two and a half hours later, the order of 1,600 shirts had sold out, although more will be made available online. 
 
 Proceeds from the shirt — at least $10,000 so far — were to go to Seaman and Ella. The Noblesville Schools Education Foundation also has a fund set up for donations. 
 
 Twins Jewell and Jada Hensley, 17, had not originally planned to attend the game. Nor did they know Seaman. But the Noblesville High School students said the events of recent days persuaded them to attend their first baseball game of the season. 
 
 “We just came out to be part of the community,” Jewell said. 
 
 Buy Photo Students stand around a sign they made for Noblesville West Middle School teacher Jason Seaman, Monday, May 28, 2018. Seaman is credited with stopping a shooter in his classroom last Friday. (Photo: Shari Rudavsky/IndyStar) 
 
 Monday’s game was also the first time that Nate and Angel Richardson and their three children, an eighth-grader and sixth-grade twins, had attended a high school baseball match-up. 
 
 The Richardsons’ older child had Seaman as a teacher last year, and the two twins plan on playing on the football team, which he coaches next year, they said. 
 
 Knowing Seaman, Nate said, he did not find it surprising that the already popular science teacher had acted so heroically. His character is one of “action first, think later,” he said. 
 
 The fourth-year science teacher was known for his hand-on approach to science and making the subject fun, Richardson added. 
 
 “I think his class is going to be very popular” next year, he said. “This took his teacher credit up.” 
 
 At Monday’s game, a chain-link fence separated Seaman from his fans. At one point, though, the students in his class on Friday morning who were at the game trooped down the first base line to greet their teacher. Seaman came out from the under tent and high-fived the outstretched hands. 
 
 “Glad to see everybody,” he said as the teens chorused back, “glad to see you!” 
 
 Matthew and Melissa Plimpton’s daughter was among those who went back to see her teacher. The seventh-grader was sitting behind Ella when she was shot and had to step over her to escape the classroom, Melissa said. The couple's sixth-grade daughter was in the class right beneath the room in which the shooting occurred. 
 
 When the shooting happened, the couple was about to attend their first Carb Day when they got a call first from their older daughter and then their younger. They sped north. 
 
 As they approached to pick up their children helicopters flew overhead. Many of the other cars on the road held parents also going to find their children. 
 
 “You could tell who knew the news, feeling the same dread,” Matthew said. 
 
 In the three days since, the seventh-graders have shared a two-hour-plus counseling session. Counselors have met with their parents to let them what to expect and how to help their children. 
 
 Going forward, those students and their parents now have a bond, so the Plimptons knew they had to come out to the game on Monday. 
 
 Later that afternoon, though, after Noblesville won the first of its game, the Plimptons had another place to be: Their daughter was going to make a statement to the police. 
 
 IndyStar photographer Kelly Wilkinson contributed to this report. 
 
 Contact IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at (317) 444-6354. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter. 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://indy.st/2LBH1J7 ||||| RETRANSMISSION TO CORRECT NAME TO JASON SEAMAN - In this undated photo, provided by Southern Illinois University, Jason Seaman, a defensive end for the SIU football team, poses for a photo in Carbondale,... (Associated Press) 
 
 RETRANSMISSION TO CORRECT NAME TO JASON SEAMAN - In this undated photo, provided by Southern Illinois University, Jason Seaman, a defensive end for the SIU football team, poses for a photo in Carbondale, Ill. Seaman, now a science teacher at Noblesville West Middle School in Noblesville, Ind., subdued... (Associated Press) 
 
 NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana teacher who was shot while tackling and disarming a student inside his classroom said Monday that his swift decisions "were the only acceptable actions" to save his seventh-grade students. 
 
 Jason Seaman, speaking publicly for the first time since the shooting Friday, thanked the Noblesville community for its support and stressed that he wanted the focus to be on the only other person shot during the incident: a 13-year-old student who was seriously wounded. 
 
 "Her courage and strength at such a young age is nothing short of remarkable," Seaman said during a news conference at the school district's administrative building. "We all should continue to keep her in our minds as she continues to recover." 
 
 Seaman is credited with stopping the armed student who entered his Noblesville West Middle School on Friday morning. Witnesses said the 29-year-old former college football player ran toward bullets as he tackled the student shooter. He was shot three times, according to his brother. 
 
 "I want to make it clear that my actions on that day, in my mind, were the only acceptable actions I could have done given the circumstances," Seaman said. "I deeply care for my students and their well-being. That is why I did what I did that day." 
 
 He wore a white T-shirt emblazoned with the message: "#NOBStrong. You are the reason I teach." His shirt also showed the initials EW, honoring injured student Ella Whistler. Her family has said she was hospitalized in critical but stable condition, and school officials said Saturday that she was improving. 
 
 Seaman, who was released from the hospital Saturday, didn't appear to show any pain or other sign of his injuries during the news conference. He spoke for just a few minutes and declined to answer questions from reporters. 
 
 Noblesville Schools Superintendent Beth Niedermeyer said her district will provide counseling throughout the summer and into next school year. The middle school was scheduled to remain closed Tuesday to provide counseling for students, staff and their families. ||||| (CNN) Jason Seaman didn't give much thought to the most dangerous decision of his life. 
 
 When an armed student entered his Indiana classroom and started firing, the teacher lunged at the shooter and stopped the gunfire. 
 
 "My actions on that day, in my mind, were the only acceptable actions I could have done," said Seaman, a 7th-grade science teacher at Noblesville West Middle School. 
 
 Teacher Jason Seaman is recovering from three gunshot wounds after tackling a school shooter Friday. 
 
 "I deeply care for my students and their well-being. So that is why I did what I did." 
 
 Seaman, 29, spoke publicly for the first time Monday since he was shot three times . The football coach and former college defensive lineman used his athletic skills to take down the assailant. 
 
 "Mr. Seaman started running at him. He tackled him to the ground," one boy told reporters shortly after the shooting Friday. "We were all hiding in the back of a classroom behind some desks, then (Seaman) was yelling to call 911, to get out of the building as fast as we could, so we ran (out)." 
 
 The young attacker shot Seaman as well as a female student, who was in critical condition. On Monday, Noblesville Superintendent Beth Niedermeyer said the wounded student was "making progress." 
 
 If not for his Seaman's heroics, one student told reporters, "more of us could have been injured, for sure. We could have been killed." 
 
 Seaman deflected praise and gave credit to a quick-responding school resource officer; an "unbelievably brave colleague" who entered his room and helped the wounded student; and the student who fought for her life after getting shot. 
 
 "Her courage and strength at such a young age is nothing short of remarkable," the teacher said. 
 
 Seaman also thanked a Noblesville High School student who set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for his medical bills 
 
 "I can't really fathom how someone I have not personally met would do such an act of kindness and how the Noblesville community has been so generous in its response to it," he said. 
 
 Gunfire during science test 
 
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 It's still not clear why the shooter opened fire at the suburban Indianapolis school. Authorities have not publicly identified the suspect nor released a motive. 
 
 This much we do know: A student asked for permission to leave the classroom and "returned armed with two handguns," Noblesville police Chief Kevin Jowitt said. 
 
 Thanks in large part to Seaman's actions, the melee ended quickly, and the student was arrested. 
 
 Trying to move forward 
 
 For the first time since the shooting, classes will resume Tuesday at district schools except for Noblesville West Middle School. That school will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to provide counseling to students and their families. 
 
 Substitute teacher Joanie Lynne consoles instructional assistant Paige Rose after the shooting.
– The "only acceptable actions." That's how seventh-grade science teacher Jason Seaman described his actions in stopping a young gunman who burst into his classroom at Noblesville West Middle School in Indiana last week. Seaman was shot himself as he ran and tackled the shooter, and he spoke for the first time publicly on Monday, though he downplayed his heroism. "My actions on that day, in my mind, were the only acceptable actions I could have done," said Seaman, per CNN. "I deeply care for my students and their well-being. So that is why I did what I did." Seaman devoted the rest of his brief news conference to praising first-responders and 13-year-old Ella Whistler, the only other person shot. She remains hospitalized. Details and developments: Ella: "Her courage and strength is nothing short of remarkable," Seaman said of the girl. He said she remained calm as they waited for help, and he thanked the school resource officer and school nurse for helping her stay "alert and calm," reports the Indianapolis Star. Noblesville's school chief said Monday that Ella was improving at Riley Hospital for Children. Injuries: Seaman underwent surgery Friday for his wounds—his family says he was shot three times, in the abdomen, hip, and shoulder—and he did not elaborate on his injuries. He showed no sign of pain or those injuries at the news conference, notes the AP. Seaman did not take questions from reporters.