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Cameron Powell
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Cameron Powell
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Cameron Powell
James Shaw, Jr., has been marked by that early morning in April.
Flashbacks haunt him everyday, he says, and his sleep is inconsistent and light. When he tells his story, the one that made him into a national figure celebrated by organizations as disparate as BET and the Trump administration, he absently touches a finger to the bullet scar just above his right elbow.
“[The shooting] is still there, for sure,” the 29-year-old says.
After the Antioch Waffle House shooting in the early hours of April 22, during which Shaw challenged, charged, and disarmed a mass shooter who had already killed three, the North Nashville native saw his life change forever. But with the scars came celebration, and he was honored by every major Nashville sports team, given awards by both MTV and BET, and, yes, even called by president Donald Trump.
But Shaw, who launched his eponymous foundation in August, is refusing to let either celebrity or tragedy distract him from using his newfound social cache for good. After reflecting on his ordeal, Shaw has become a staunch advocate for mental healthcare, selecting it as a pillar of his foundation’s focus.
“There’s something there,” he says of his shooter’s mental state. “Normal people don’t act like that.”
As a man of faith, Shaw has come to understand that there are bigger plans for his life than he’d ever considered prior to that Sunday morning. He’s back at his alma mater, Tennessee State University, finishing an interdisciplinary degree in psychology and criminal justice.
“I feel like if I’m gonna talk about it, I need to know about it,” he explains. And his plans, while ambitious, are what a man given a new life might aspire: “I’ve really been thinking about being mayor, then senator, then president,” he says. “But one of my real goals is the Nobel Peace Prize.”
What made Shaw an especially compelling figure during that Sunday press conference, mere hours after his heroism, was his outright refusal to be labeled a hero.
“A hero takes care of the whole situation,” he says, explaining that he failed because people died.
Call it survivor’s guilt or a moral code higher than any one man should bear. But with his foundation’s reach and his political aspirations, maybe, by his own definition, Shaw is becoming the hero to himself everyone already believes him to be.
“I have a responsibility now. I can’t just go through the situation and leave it,” he says. “To make the situation better, the way I see it, is to do what I’m doing, and the way I can help is to reach as many people as possible.”
For more with this year's 25 Most Beautiful People, pick up the October issue of Nashville Lifestyles, on newsstands now.