The Hour I First Believed

Yesterday after school we were put on lock down for the second time I have been at MLK Academy. The school gets put on lock down from time to time and my first reaction was, "Oh ok there is a police situation nearby. It is for our protection." Which is usually the case. SO I continued to do my thing in the cafteria and waited along with other students and families that were at the school to pick up their kids. Rumors began to flood the cafeteria. "Somebody got shot." "We heard it was so and so's brother." "It definitely was, my friend's mother told me." I tried my best to keep the students calm. One boy became hysterical because the rumor that spread through the room was that his brother was the one who had been shot. The lock down was lifted and everyone went their separate ways and the student's continued to talk. I knew no information and could not give them any satisfactory closure on the situation.

This morning it turns out that the 16 year old that was fleeing a confrontation suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. This young man is the brother of one of my fourth grade students that I work with in English Language Development and the After School Program. This student had issues to begin with and this will just send him into another dimension.

The gang violence is Salinas, CA has just gotten out of hand. With a population of 148,350 the death toll since the beginning of 2009 is staggering for a city of this size. I am just not sure what to think, what to do, or what to say anymore.