A 15-year-old student at Lamar High School in Arlington shot and killed a classmate, 16-year-old Jashawn Poirier, in late March. Another student was injured. The shooter, whose name has not been released, appeared in Tarrant County juvenile court on Tuesday.
There was also a shooting outside Jefferson High School in Dallas the following day. A student was shot in the arm after school ended according to Dallas ISD.
Brynn Beecham is a 16-year-old sophomore at Hillcrest High School in Dallas, ten minutes from Thomas Jefferson High School. She said she and her friends are scared a shooting will happen at their school.
“I’m nervous walking in every day because I don’t know if I’m going to be able to walk out,” Beecham said.
Beecham said she helped start a chapter of Students Demand Action, a gun safety student advocacy organization, at her school after three lockdowns due to false alarms. The national student organization is a part of Everytown, a gun safety nonprofit. It helped organize 150 walkouts across the country.
At least ten high schools signed up to participate in the walkout, including Jasper High School in Plano. Dozens of students and walked out on a windy Wednesday morning and chanted.
“No more violence! End all violence!” the students yelled.
KERA informed school officials on Tuesday that a reporter intended to cover the event.
Several students appeared to give speeches on Wednesday, but the KERA reporter and photographer sent to cover the event were not permitted to stand close enough to hear.
School officials and security officers said that was for safety reasons. KERA journalists complied and stood as directed — and then were asked to move about two feet back closer to a tree.
Dallas ISD said in a statement sent to KERA via email that it commends its students who participated for speaking out.
"Our future generation of leaders inspired many today," the district said.
Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and teens in the U.S. according to Everytown. And there’s already been at least 33 shootings at schools across the nation according to Students Demand Action.
Beecham said her generation has been affected by gun violence the most. She said her parents didn’t grow up with lockdown drills at school. And they didn’t have to carry clear backpacks — a requirement Dallas ISD implemented for the 2022-2023 school year for students in grades 6-12.
“They’re not great, and they break pretty easily,” Beecham said. “I think I use like two to three a year.”
Beecham said there are better solutions to gun violence in schools — things like raising the gun purchasing age from 18 to 21 and stronger background checks. She said she hopes protests like the walkout will encourage Texas lawmakers to enact those reforms.
“If enough of us come together and stand up for what's right, there might be some change that happens,” Beecham said. “But it’s a long, hard road because there's already been so much effort and work put into this.”
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
Caroline Love is a Report For Americacorps member for KERA News.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gifttoday. Thank you.
