Halls Funeral Home

C.  – A phalanx of police cars and motorcycles with lights flashing paid homage Thursday to University of North Carolina Charlotte shooting victim Riley Howell on Thursday, escorting the hero home. Traffic stopped on Charlotte streets as the solemn procession passed en route to his hometown in Waynesville, 150 miles west of Charlotte. Authorities say Howell, 21, tackled a gunman who opened fire in a classroom Tuesday – and in the process saved lives. Howell and fellow student Ellis R. Parlier, 19, were killed; four other students were wounded. Tami Hunter held back tears as her 4-year-old-son Maddox sat on her lap watching the long procession of police and emergency vehicles drive down Main Street toward Wells Funeral Home in Waynesville. Her son held a sign: "A man we never met is now a hero we will never forget." Community members yelled "thank you" and "you're a hero" as the caravan rolled by. Many buried their faces in the arms of their neighbor. Renee Gidcumb had spent the night before looking at old yearbooks to find pictures of Howell. She taught him in first grade at Riverbend Elementary School in Clyde.  "This hits us right at home," Gidcumb said. "It's so hard to believe that he sat in one of my chairs and walked our halls. I can still see his little face. It's how I've always remembered him." Shelby Tomassi grew up with Howell in Waynesville and both attended UNCC. Tomassi, a senior, was in an engineering building on campus when word spread about an active shooter. "We'd trained for the moment, but no one knew what to do," she said.  More: UNCC shooting: Riley Howell returns home to Waynesville They remained in loc...