Dallas, Texas shooting: community seeks to address gun violence

"We’re facing generations of trauma, generations of damage that has to be unpacked,” said Keio Gamble, State of the Black Man founder.

dallas — The silence at Roosevelt High School on Friday was a loud response to Thursday evening’s shooting. Dallas ISD canceled classes as a precaution due to a credible threat.

Dallas Police said a school staffer, Terrence Lowery, was giving two football players rides home after practice when someone pulled alongside them and started shooting. They were about a mile from the school.

Lowery told police he turned around immediately and headed back to the school. Police said one student was shot in the neck. The other student was shot in the arm and shoulder. Lowery was not injured.

WFAA sources said the shooting appears to be targeted and the suspects may have worn ski masks.

“I’m fed up. I’m very fed up because we’re losing lives of our Black and brown kids,” said Dallas ISD trustee Maxie Johnson.

He said the issue of gun violence, particularly involving youth, has gone too far. 

“We have to come up with solutions to keep guns out of the hands of our children,” said Johnson.

Keio Gamble, founder of State of the Black Man, plans to discuss some of those solutions at his event on Saturday. It takes place at Roosevelt High School.

“The timing of it is indicative of why we’re having the conversation. It’s a real issue,” said Gamble. “A lot of times, you have to take advantage of the moment in order to have the momentum to get to where you’re going.”

The goal of the State of the Black Man event is to connect residents with resources. 

“We have to understand what we’re truly facing. We’re facing generations of trauma, generations of damage that has to be unpacked,” said Gamble.

That trauma is now an unspoken language that Gamble said Lowery and the two sophomore students now share.

Lowery did not want to comment at this time, but Gamble told us he is a close friend of his. He’s been in contact with him on the night of the shooting and throughout Friday. Gamble said both Lowery and the students have been relying on each other to get through.

“He’s more concerned with them than he is about himself. They’re more concerned about him,” said Gamble. “The school was the safe haven.”

It is a haven that saved lives and helped bring a community to action.

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