Front Sight Applauds Fast Thinking, Effective Action

Front Sight Firearms Training Institute Lifetime Member John Wehner brought the heroic actions of Zach Petkewicz to the attention of Front Sight in a letter describing what the young man did on the day of the Viriginia Tech shooting. Mr. Wehner explained that he wished to honor Petkewicz by paying for a Lifetime Membership to Front Sight for Petkewicz. Front Sight adds its honors and recognition of this real-life hero, Zach Petkewicz.

Writes Wehner: “An amazing student at Virginia Tech held off the shooter who killed all those kids. Zach Petkewicz is his name. It seems he barricaded a door. Please find him and give him a Lifetime Legacy Membership on me! I'll even pay for his first trip to Front Sight -air fare and hotel. God Bless Him. He has wits about him. Training plus wits equals greater success when things like this happen. If citizens in our society have the proper training, the odds will improve for the good guys in these horrible situations.”

Petkewicz did that and more: he barricaded a door with a table found in his classroom and helped to keep the door shut while the shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, attempted entry to the room and fired rounds into the door. Before he did all that, though, he did not even recognize the sounds coming from another room of the engineering building until he heard a scream in the hall.

Some girls in his class peered into the hall and saw the gunman come out of another classroom. Says Petkewicz: “They immediately slammed the door shut, told us, everybody kind of went into a frenzy, a panic. I hid behind the podium and then just kind of looked up at the door. Like, there's nothing stopping this guy from just coming in. And so I said, 'We need to barricade this door.'” Clearly not immodest, Petkewicz describes his initial reaction: “I was completely scared out of my mind originally, just went into a cowering position, and then just realized you have got to do something.”

Do something he did. Petkewicz and two other students took a table in the room and barricaded it against door, preventing the shooter from entering the classroom. It is fast thinking and action like this which Front Sight Firearms Training Institute expects of all its graduates, and wishes for all citizens. It is for this reason that Mr. Wehner wishes to foot the bill for a Lifetime Legacy Membership to Front Sight Firearms Training Institute for Petkewicz. As Mr. Wehner said in his letter, ‘Training plus wits equals greater success when things like this happen.’ Responsible training plus a clear mind make the handling of any situation possible, and Front Sight delivers that to its graduates.

Certainly, no man should ever have to experience such horror, and definitely not twice, but Front Sight wants to ensure that if Petkewicz should ever be in such a situation, he would know exactly what to do and be able to know, without a doubt, that he could protect his loved ones from harm.

Although Mr. Wehner made it to honoring Zach Petkewicz before Front Sight could, Front Sight adds its thanks, honors and appreciation to what Zach did in Virginia. Front Sight encourages anyone who knows Zach Petkewicz to inform him to contact Front Sight to accept his lifetime membership.

For more information, about Front Sight Firearms Training Institute and Ignatius Piazza go to either