Obama: Tennessee teen killed shielding girls is 'a hero'

December 21, 2015 at 9:44 a.m. | Updated December 21, 2015 at 9:45 a.m.

by Associated Press

This undated photo released by the Knox County Schools, high school football player Zaevion Dobson, 15, was shot to death Thursday night, Dec. 17, 2015, in Knoxville, Tenn., as he shielded three girls from gunfire in a shooting spree. Dobson, a sophomore at Fulton High School in northern Knoxville, was "a fine, fine young man," said Fulton High School football coach Rob Black. (Knox County Schools via AP)
This undated photo released by the Knox County Schools, high school football player Zaevion Dobson, 15, was shot to death Thursday night, Dec. 17, 2015, in Knoxville, Tenn., as he shielded three girls from gunfire in a shooting spree. Dobson, a sophomore at Fulton High School in northern Knoxville, was "a fine, fine young man," said Fulton High School football coach Rob Black. (Knox County Schools via AP)

President Barack Obama says a Tennessee high school football player who was killed shielding three female friends from gunfire died a hero.

In a Twitter post on Sunday, Obama said: "Zaevion Dobson died saving three friends from getting shot. He was a hero at 15. What's our excuse for not acting?"

Obama has lobbied Congress unsuccessfully for tighter gun laws since the deadly mass shooting three years ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

Knoxville, Tennessee, police say Dobson, a 15-year-old sophomore, was killed last week as several men went on a shooting spree in the city.

One of the men later died from injuries. Two others were arrested, though one was released after being questioned.

Obama commented during his annual Christmas vacation in Hawaii.

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