John Resetar, security guard who helped stop Pa. HS stabbing by Alex Hribal, fired

MURRYSVILLE, Pa. -- ''He stabbed me right here, right under the heart. It just missed my heart and my lung.''

John Resetar, or "Sarge" as he was known to kids at Franklin Regional High School, was a former convenience store entrepreneur-turned-school security guard for the past nine years. On April 9, he and Vice Principal Sam King were instrumental in stopping Alex Hribal from hurting more people.

"Sam had him down, but I was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold him, so I jumped up and had a hold on each of his hands, controlling the knives," Resetar said.

But not before Hribal stabbed Resetar, just missing his heart and lung that Wednesday. Five days later, Sarge was back at work.

"The amount of parents that came up to me, it was just unbelievable at that time," he said.

This past Tuesday - with less than a week until what would have been Sarge's tenth year at Franklin Regional - the doorbell rang. His wife picked up the certified letter.

"She brought the letter in, and I opened it and found out I was no longer needed," said Resetar.

The letter from Resetar's employer, Capital Asset Protection, who provides the contracted security for Franklin Regional, explained management met with the district and based on that meeting, Resetar was fired from Franklin Regional and CAP altogether.

"I can tell you we were surprised as a district. We were unaware that his employment had ended there," said Mary Catherine Reljac, assistant superintendent.

District officials admit they had a conversation about redefining security roles, but they never asked for Resetar to be let go. That, they said, is up to Capital Asset . CAP's president did not return a request for comment by WTAE-TV.

"If he didn't have a conversation with his employer, we really are disappointed at that because that isn't how we would want to handle that as a school district," Reljac said.

"I'm going to miss a lot of the kids and a lot of the teachers. They were very, very, very good to me. That's the hard part," Resetar said.