On Thursday night in Knoxville, Tennessee, 15-year-old Fulton High School football player Zaevion Dobson was sitting on his porch talking with friends about the upcoming holiday when two men approached and started shooting. Dobson had two choices: run as fast as he could to get away, or sacrifice himself in order to protect those around him. The young hero chose the latter which cost him his life, but saved the lives of three teenage girls.

“If it wasn’t for Zaevion, if he would have just ran off the porch, we would have probably been shot,” Kiara Rucker told CBS affiliate WVLT.

“You’re my hero, I’ll never forget you,” Faith Gordon, who credited Dobson with saving her life, wrote on Twitter.

“Unfortunately, they picked a random group of young men and women who were just hanging out and trying to prepare to celebrate the holiday,” said Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch, who struggled to hold back tears while discussing the teenager’s sacrifice at a news conference.

President Barack Obama took to Twitter on Sunday night to call Dobson a hero while also calling for stricter gun control laws.

Zaevion Dobson died saving three friends from getting shot. He was a hero at 15. What’s our excuse for not acting? https://t.co/hn98uGsjKZ

— President Obama (@POTUS) December 20, 2015

Dobson’s funeral has been scheduled for Saturday, at Overcoming Believers Church, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel, which reported that the teen’s mother “asked that those who attend the funeral wear maroon, one of Fulton’s school colors.”

According to police, the shooting seems to be gang-related and the shooters seem to have picked the group of teenagers at random.

What a sad, yet uplifting story. Zaevion Dobson is a hero and hopefully we can recognize him for his bravery instead of turning this into a political situation. Dobson deserves to be honored and reveled for what he did, not become the face of the dispute on gun control.

Jason Fletcher is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JasonFletcher25, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.