Who Is Anthony Borges? Heroic Teen Shot Five Times Shielding Friends From Florida Gunman

A 15-year-old student who was shot five times as he attempted to shield his classmates from a gunman during the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida has been hailed as a hero.

Anthony Borges barricaded the door to a classroom at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with his own body to protect the 20 children inside from the gunman, who allegedly fired shots into Borges's back and legs as he attempted to save his friends.

"None of us knew what to do. So, he took the initiative to just save his other classmates," Borges's best friend Carlos told Good Morning America.

Borges is recovering from the attack at a nearby hospital, where he was visited by Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who shared a picture of the high school student in a hospital bed and told The Telegraph he had been "honored" to shake hands with the boy who saved so many lives.

The teenager's father told ABC News his son had called him following the deadly shooting to tell him he had been injured.

"He just called me and says, 'Dad, somebody shot me in the back and my leg, too,'" Royer Borges told the news outlet. "He's my hero."

"I only ask that people pray for him," he added.

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help Borges and his family in the aftermath of the shooting.

"During this unspeakable tragedy, Anthony was able to save about 20 other students as he attempted to close and lock the door to a classroom," the page read.

"He was shot multiple times (both legs were shot, left upper thigh bone shattered and one bullet went through his back). He has a long road of recovery ahead of him but he is alive and stable," it added.

Nikolas Cruz, 19, has confessed to police that he was "the gunman who entered the school campus armed with [an] AR-15 and began shooting students that he saw in the hallways and on the school grounds."

Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and is being held without bond.