A student hailed by police as a hero for preventing more injuries and deaths after a gunman opened fire in a classroom has now been immortalised as a Jedi by the production company for the Star Wars franchise.
after a gunman opened fire in a classroom has now been immortalised as a Jedi by the production company for the Star Wars franchise.
The family of Riley Howell, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte student who was described as a huge Star Wars fan, was tipped off by Lucasfilm in May that it planned to honour him in a forthcoming book. The book was released by publisher DK to coincide with the release of the new filmRiley Howell died in April when a gunman opened fire in a classroom on UNCC's campus.
In May, the fan relations team for Lucasfilm wrote a letter to Howell's family expressing condolences. "Riley's courage and selflessness brings out the Jedi in all of us," wrote fan relations team member Lucas Seastrom. "We hope that you may rejoice in his memory, and we join you in honouring his life and example."As a small tribute, our Story Group has incorporated a reimagining of Riley's name as a character in the Star Wars galaxy," Seastrom continued. " ... The Force will be with Riley, and all of you, always...
"And I like the way they actually left his last name," Henry-Howell says. "I think he would really be appreciative of that. Because, you know, they could have just said Ri-Lee - Jedi Ri-Lee - and we'd be guessing the whole time about whether or not that was really , but they put his last name in there just to really honour him ... and that really made me cry when I heard about it.
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