Air Force vet helps patient down 9 flights of stairs to escape Atlanta shooting

KJ Johnson, a U.S. Air Force veteran from Alpharetta, Georgia was with his son on the ninth floor of the Northside Hospital Midtown medical center when he heard the pops.

He said there were about 20 patients inside the waiting room of the medical imaging office at the time, but credits the staff with keeping everyone calm. Doors were quickly locked and the patients were brought to a back room until police arrived and everyone was allowed to leave, Johnson told reporters outside.

“I had no idea that something like this would happen,” said Johnson, who served 21 years in the military.

The elevators to the medical center were disabled after the shooting, so Johnson helped a woman named Doris, who walks with a cane, down nine flights of stairs to safety.

“She had surgery on one leg and she was having an MRI,” Johnson said. “So we just walked, took our time and she was a champion about it.”

After exiting the building, he walked her up the road and helped her cross the street.