A victim of the UNC-Charlotte shooting in April of this year, Riley Howell, has been honoured by Lucasfilm with a character named after him in the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary.
When the gunman opened fire, Howell charged at him, and police said his actions “absolutely” helped stopped the attacker from killing more people, and from the incident being classified as a mass shooting. “He took the fight to the assailant. Unfortunately he had to give his life to do so, but he saved lives,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney told reporters the following day.
Howell was without doubt a hero.
Media reports and obituary tributes after Howell’s death noted his love of Star Wars, such as ABC affiliate WLOS’s story that included his younger brother Teddy saying, “He’s the only 21-year-old, who would willingly fight his lightsaber with me.”
Writer of the visual dictionary, Pablo Hidalgo named a character in the book Ri-Lee Howell, immortalising Howell as a historian of the Jedi Order.
https://twitter.com/emilyyuyellz/status/1209146895593017351
Photos from the book were posted online on Monday by the brother of Howell’s girlfriend, Lauren Westmoreland.
“[H]e would absolutely be over the moon that he is now a Jedi forever,” Westmoreland tells TIME in a text message. “And especially one that is a historian that preserves Jedi texts! That’s how he was with Star Wars, he was very detail oriented and could tell me every little thing[.]”
“[H]e loved to draw the clone trooper helmets all the time, sometimes even on my birthday cards because I always liked to draw him things for his birthday,” Westmoreland continues. “He has little Star Wars figurines all over his room that he’s had since he was very little, and when I hiked on the [Pacific Coast Trail] for a month with [Outward Bound] after he was killed, I took his [Obi-Wan] figurine with me and took pictures of him in all the different places we stayed[.]”
She adds that they were supposed to see the new Star Wars movie for their anniversary, and that “even though I didn’t get to see it with him, this happened for him instead and it has been truly truly incredible.”
It’s a small but beautiful tribute to someone who sacrificed their life for others. May the force be with him.
