Matt McQuinn died protecting his girlfriend.
As a gunman calmly walked up the aisle of an Aurora movie theater Friday firing at moviegoers, the 27-year-old Ohio native dived on top of Samantha Yowler. Her brother Nick, 32, also tried to shield her, said Robert L. Scott, attorney for the McQuinn and Yowler families.
Samantha Yowler, 27, was shot in the knee. Her brother escaped without injury. But McQuinn, from St. Paris, Ohio, was not as fortunate.
McQuinn’s mother, Jeri Jackson, flew to Colorado on Friday as family members in Springfield tried to get information about what happened to McQuinn, according to the Dayton Daily News.
McQuinn’s stepmother, Stacie McQuinn, said the hospital would not tell Yowler, who underwent surgery Friday, about her boyfriend’s condition because the two were not related.
Matt McQuinn graduated from Vandalia-Butler High School in 2004. He met Yowler while the two were working at a Target store in Springfield, the Dayton Daily News reported. In November, the couple transferred to a Target store in Denver, joining Yowler’s brother, who had lived in Colorado for the past few years.
Co-workers spoke warmly of McQuinn on Friday when the news began circulating among the staff. Diane Behling worked with both McQuinn and “Sammy” and said they were all a close-knit team. She said McQuinn was “just a really good person” and that she loved having his “company and laughter” at work.
McQuinn’s funeral is set for 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 28 at Maiden Lane Church in Springfield, Ohio. His burial will be at Lawrenceville Cemetery in Clark County.
