WASHINGTON, D.C., August 24, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – The man who has been extolled as a “hero” after putting a stop to what could have been a much worse tragedy last week at the Family Research Council, has just been released from hospital.
Leo Johnson was shot in the arm on August 15, after confronting a gunman who allegedly walked into FRC’s building, expressed disagreement with the organization’s politics, and opened fire. Despite being shot, Leo was able to subdue the shooter and call for help.
“I am thankfully now out of the hospital,” Johnson said in a statement on Friday, adding that while his condition “continues to improve,” he will likely need another surgery.
“I want to thank everyone for the support and prayers during my recovery,” Johnson wrote. “I thank the media for their interest but ask for their understanding of my family’s desire for privacy as I focus on getting better.”
The alleged gunman, Virginia resident Floyd Lee Corkins II, appeared in court the same day, where he pleaded “not guilty.”
The Associated Press reports that Corkins will be held without bond until his next court appearance, on October 1. He is charged with assault with intent to kill while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition.
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Corkins, who had been volunteering for the past six months at the D.C. Center for LGBT Community, is said to have been carrying dozens of rounds of ammunition, as well as 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches, when he was apprehended.
Chick-fil-A is a prominent donor to Family Research Council, a conservative organization that supports traditional marriage. Earlier this summer Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy came under fire from left-wing groups for expressing his support for “the biblical definition of the family unit.”
After allegedly shooting Johnson, Corkins reportedly begged not to be shot, and said, “it was not about you, it was what this place stands for.”
In an earlier interview, Johnson had said that after being shot, “I didn’t feel any pain. I felt my arm snap back, so I knew I was hit, but I didn’t feel any pain.
“Although I didn’t want to get shot—nobody wants to get shot—I feel that God put me in a position to be there at that time,” he said.
FRC president Tony Perkins told media that after Johnson came out of surgery on the day of the shooting, “I was there and I told him, I said, ‘Leo, I want you to know, you’re a hero and that’s what we believe you are, and that’s what Americans all across the country believe you are—a hero—for what you did today.’”