however, according to three witnesses mercer shot the professor first and then asked students in this writing and speech class if they were christian, and if they said yes, they were shot in the head. if not, they were shot in the leg. that comes from three individuals who survived. now, there was an army vet named chris mince, he was shot seven times trying to protect other students. >> tried to block the door to keep the gunman from coming in. gets shot three times, hits the floor. looks up at the gunman and says it's my son's birthday today. gets shot two more times. >> his vital signs are okay. i mean, he's going to have to learn to walk again, but he walked away with his life, and that's more than so many other people did. >> reporter: as for the nine victims, because this is a mass shooting, the medical examiner will release the names most likely in 12 to another 24 hours. it's a small community, you know? they had a vigil last night, put the -- in candlelight put the