‘Mr. Mike’s got you’: Slain custodian called hero after school shooting
“He came to my rescue,” the woman said. “He saw how upset I was.”
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – The school custodian killed during Monday’s shooting at a Nashville private school is being called a hero by a woman who says he impacted her life.
Nikki Roberts said she was in a dark place when Mike Hill was “a hero to this single mom.” Hill, 61, was shot and killed through a door while at The Covenant School on Monday, according to Metro Nashville Police. He worked at the school for more than a decade.
Roberts said when her children were enrolled at Covenant, Hill came to her rescue.
“I was in the midst of a painful and unwanted divorce while trying to take care of a newborn and three small children,” Roberts said. “One day while picking up my kids from school, my car went dead. Try as I might. I just couldn’t get it going.”
That’s where Hill stepped in.
“He came to my rescue,” Roberts said. “He saw how upset I was, and it wasn’t just about the car.”
Hill told her not to worry. “Mr. Mike’s got you,” he said.
“Four simple words that meant everything. I can say for sure there were tears on my part. Everything back then felt heavy and overwhelming. Mr. Mike stepped into my heaviness and helped me carry my load. For a moment, God sent Mike Hill to be my champion,” Roberts said, adding Hill told her he’d put a new battery in her car if she needed him to. “I thanked him from the bottom of my heart. My heaviness lifted in that instant because I saw the faithfulness of God lived out in front of me in the person of Mike Hill.”
Roberts said she is now encouraging others to be like “Mr. Mike.”
“Let’s make the name of Mike Hill synonymous with random acts of kindness,” Roberts said. “Pay for someone’s food at the drive-thru. Help that mama in the grocery store parking lot put her groceries in the car. Take a meal to a friend just because. Mow your neighbor’s grass. Give someone a compliment. Step into someone’s bad day and ask if you can pray for them. And when they ask you why, say, ‘Mr. Mike’s got you.’”
Hill was a father of seven children and 14 grandchildren. His family says he loved to cook and spend time with his big family.
They said working at Covenant gave him joy.
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