NEVADA

Michael Landsberry

Heroic Teacher | Sparks, Nevada

Michael Landsberry enlisted in the Marine Corps just after graduating high school in 1986. Following his Marine service, Landsberry earned an associate’s degree from Truckee Meadows Community College, then a bachelor’s in education at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2000. 

One year later, he returned to the military, enlisting in Nevada’s Air National Guard. In 2006, he was deployed to Kuwait, where he operated as an airlift validator for the Central Command Deployment & Distribution Center. He was deployed again in 2011 when he was assigned to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, working with the 455^th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron. In his twelve years with the Air Guard, Landsberry was awarded more than 20 commendations and achieved the rank of master sergeant. 

The same year Landsberry enlisted in the Air Guard also marked the beginning of his career as an educator. He started out in 2001 teaching math, history, and science at Trainer Middle School in Renothen, then taught at Greenbrae Elementary School in Sparks before settling in at Sparks Middle School. There, he would spend seven years as a math teacher and coach for basketball, cross-country, track, and volleyball, all while still managing his responsibility to the Air Guard 

On October 21, 2013, Landsberry came face-to-face with a teacher’s worst nightmare. That morning, before school had begun, he and another teacher at Sparks Middle School were coaching an outdoors basketball practice for the boys’ team. A seventh-grade boy approached the practice, armed with a 9mm handgun. Landsberry immediately took action to protect his students, telling them to find cover and calmly approaching the child himself. He attempted to reason with the shooter, telling him, “Put it down. It’s not worth it.” Landsberry was then shot twice in the chest and lost his life. Due to his careful action, however, there were no casualties among the students that day.

Teaching meant a great deal to Landsberry. In the aftermath of the shooting, his wife Sharon told CBS News, “Mike found a way to adapt and overcome, and he found a way to reach each student. What gave him the most satisfaction was seeing a light go on when a student suddenly got it.” That praise was echoed by his students. A Facebook page was made in his honor, with many of his pupils recalling him as a man who balanced discipline with a sense of joy. The banner quote on his classroom webpage reflected that demeanor: "One of my goals is to earn your respect while you earn mine.”

In reflection, Landsberry’s military colleagues also offered high praise. “There’s no such thing as an ex-Marine and [Landsberry] lived that,” said Brig. Gen. Bill Burks, the Nevada National Guard’s adjutant general. “He lived the Corps values. He was the consummate military professional.” At a memorial held after the murder, Sharon Landsberry recalled just how much her husband’s time with the Marines had impacted him, reciting a poem Michael had read to her mere days prior to his death: “I have seen death and felt its warm breath. It did not faze me for I was different. I was a warrior. You ask me what I was? It was my destiny, until my last breath, to be a United States Marine. And my spirit shall live forever.”

Landsberry’s impact on his Nevada community is still seen today. Since 2013, the Washoe Education Association has offered a scholarship, The Michael Landsberry Memorial Scholarship. It is awarded to a high school senior who plans to further their education at a two-year or four-year college or vocational school.