Star Wars Honours UNCC Shooting Hero, Riley Howell As a Jedi Master

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte student Riley Howell earlier this year passed away after tackling an armed gunman, who opened fire in his class. Riley has been hailed by the police as a hero for saving the lives of his classmates. The then 21-year-old Star Wars fan is now being honoured as a Jedi by the production company of released book Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker- The Visual dictionary.

Reports in The Guardian suggest Riley's family was informed by Lucasfilm back in May that his name will be immortalized as a Jedi Master in the forthcoming book. The book was released by publisher DK along with the release of the last film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Lucasfilm's letter to Howell's family expressed condolences and shared their views on adding him to the Star Wars' galaxy. "Riley's courage and selflessness brings out the Jedi in all of us. We hope that you may rejoice in his memory, and we join you in honouring his life and example. As a small tribute, our Story Group has incorporated a reimagining of Riley's name as a character in the Star Wars galaxy."

The book calls 'Ri-Lee Howell' as a Jedi master and a historian, who collected "many of the earliest accounts of exploration and codifications of The Force".

Fans on twitter have been talking about the special honour and shedding tears over the gesture. One went on to share a TicTok video of the events. Take a look:

The Guardian also revealed, Howell's family went to watch the movie on the opening night. They brought his ashes with them and kept a seat open for him. While talking to the Charlette Observer, his father Henry Howell said, "I like the way they actually left his last name,"

"I think he would really be appreciative of that. Because, you know, they could have just said Ri-Lee - Jedi Ri-Lee - and we'd be guessing the whole time about whether or not that was really [him], but they put his last name in there just to really honor him ... and that really made me cry when I heard about it." he added.

The film, Star Wars- The Rise Of Skywalker, has received mixed reviews at the box office but fanatics have been happy with how the saga ended.