Roanoke Times & World News (Roanoke, VA)

A Roanoke woman who was injured in the shooting rampage at Appalachian Law School Wednesday only decided to attend law school about a year ago, after years of working as a respiratory therapist, said a close family friend.

Rebecca Clair Brown, 38, was shot in the abdomen and arm in the downstairs lobby of Grundy’s Appalachian School of Law. After surgery, the first-year law student was listed in fair condition at Wellmont Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tenn.

“Out of all people, I know this shouldn’t have happened to her,” said Glenda Link, 59, of Roanoke. Link is a close friend of the family and was house-sitting and dog-sitting for Brown’s mother, Norma Brown Waddell, who was at the hospital with Brown. “She’s a very hard-working individual and dedicated,” she said.

Brown, who attended Andrew Lewis High School in Salem, had worked as a licensed respiratory therapist for a number of years, Link said. The job took her to many different cities.

About a year ago, Brown decided to make a career change and go to law school, Link said.

“I’m not exactly sure what made her change,” she said, although she remembers Brown asking advice from lawyer Charles Osterhoudt, who has been a friend of Brown and her mother for a number of years. He declined to be interviewed for the story.

Brown, the youngest of four children, has an exuberant personality and her own sense of style, Link said. She said Brown treated her twin nieces as if they were her own daughters.

“She’s a very caring and thoughtful person,” Link said. “You just couldn’t ask for a better person.”

Appalachian School of Law Shootings

Roanoke Times & World News (Roanoke, VA)