Peter, 15, wearing his junior ROTC uniform, held open a door to allow his fellow classmates, teachers and staff to escape the shooting rampage, according to students and teachers.

An online petition to the White House sought military honors at Wang's funeral. It had more than 43,700 signatures as of Tuesday.

"His selfless and heroic actions have led to the survival of dozens in the area. Wang died a hero, and deserves to be treated as such, and deserves a full honors military burial," the petition said.

The petition needs 100,000 signatures by March 18 to get a response from the White House, according to whitehouse.gov.

Contact the writer at huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com.