Deer Creek Middle School math teacher David Benke was doing parking lot duty as school was letting out when he heard what he thought were firecrackers.

It was the sound of gunfire.

Benke, a 57-year-old teacher who has been at the school for a decade and whom students call “Dr. Benke,” walked toward the sound and saw a man stooped over a rifle filling the chamber with another round.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to grab him before he got a second shot off,” Benke said from his home in Littleton. “I grabbed him, and I think he dropped the gun. Basically we danced around.”

Another math teacher, Norm Hanne, ran into the fray and wrestled with the shooter, Hanne on top and Benke on the bottom. A third teacher, Becky Brown, came and grabbed the gun. Hanne declined to comment; Brown could not be reached.

After being subdued, the shooter “said he was going to sue us,” Benke recalled.

Benke, once a finalist for Colorado Teacher of the Year, is being hailed as a hero. But he shrugs that off, beating himself up over not being able to stop the second shot, which injured one of his former students.

“I have a couple former students, one of whom works for either the Golden Police Department or Jeffco and one who is a 911 dispatcher — they are the ones who are heroes,” he said. “The thing that gets me upset is he got a second round off.”

Benke said he merely walked briskly, as a teacher does, toward a man with a gun. Reflecting on it hours later, Benke said it was stupid.

“After I figured out that he had a gun and that it wasn’t a firecracker, I realized that it was a bolt-action rifle and I couldn’t get him,” he said. “I kind of figured it out as I was walking toward him.”

Later, Benke called his wife, which he doesn’t normally do after school, when he typically tutors students at the highly rated middle school.

Benke wanted to tell her he was OK and that it was one of his former students — an eighth-grader now — who was shot.

“He wasn’t injured. David is 6-foot-5. Thank goodness that he was the guy there,” Sandra Benke said. “He was all calm. Then his voice broke. I was the one who was freaking out. I was just in shock. I’m so relieved that he is OK. I am worried about the student and the students who saw this.”

Sheriff’s officials praised the teachers who subdued the shooter.

“I think when it’s all said and done, we’ll find there are some heroes in our midst at the school,” said Jacki Kelley, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

“If it wasn’t for him, you’d have a worse situation,” said bus driver Steve Potter. “He risked everything.”

Roughly three hours after the shooting, a Facebook page had been created — Dr. David Benke Is A Hero!!!! By 11 p.m., the page had more than 7,100 members.

Commenters praised Benke’s actions outside the school building.

“What you did for those kids today goes beyond heroism. You saved lives plain and simple,” wrote Mistie Lamb.

Neighbors came to Benke’s doorway to drop off cards of thanks.

Neighbor Sandy Rinow said she was proud of Benke, who is a neighborhood champion, sharing food from his garden, organizing cul-de-sac parties and playing with his kids.

“I guess I couldn’t know he would do something like this, but I guess it wouldn’t surprise me,” she said, adding she has always been impressed that Benke, with a Ph.D., opts to teach middle school math.

“I just think that’s amazing to even know a hero,” she said. “You never think you’re going to know anybody. You can really see that he cares about his kids. He’s a normal, everyday guy.”

Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Cindy Stevenson also lauded the actions.

“We do extensive training, but sometimes courage takes over,” she said. “There are amazing, courageous employees that performed with incredible heroism and strength. We are fortunate that we had people who sprang into action and saved the lives of several children.”

Benke has a doctorate and has taught for about 25 years, teaching also in Gilpin County and in Texas, his wife said.

Staff writers Carlos Illescas and Kevin Vaughan contributed to this report.

Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com