Yahoo Movies 2 prayer vigils planned Tuesday night for students shot at Arlington Lamar High School
Two Arlington churches will hold prayer vigils Tuesday night in honor of the students shot on the Lamar High School campus Monday morning.
One student — identified by family as Jashawn Poirier — was killed, and a teenage girl was hospitalized after the shooting Monday outside Lamar High School, according to police and the school district. The shooting happened before school started, and classes for Monday and Tuesday were canceled. The school will have counselors on campus Wednesday when students return.
“We are heartbroken and join all of you in keeping our students, staff and families in our hearts and prayers,” Superintendent Marcelo Cavazos told the community in a Facebook post.
A 15-year-old suspect was arrested shortly after the shooting. He made his first court appearance Tuesday and faces a capital murder charge.
The first vigil will be held at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday near the memorial garden of Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, at 2100 N. Davis Drive, according to the church’s website. Attendees will face Lamar High and join in prayer, lifting up their neighbors and families from the school.
The second prayer service will begin at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary at New World United Methodist Church, 2201 N. Davis Drive.
Waiting before sunrise for their classes to start, the victims were sitting close to the outdoor school steps on the east side of the building when they were shot.
The assailant who opened fire on them early Monday also attends Lamar High, police said.
The assailant and victims are all younger than 17, Arlington police said.
Detectives believe the suspect did not intend to shoot more people at the school and that he targeted at least one of the victims, said Officer Jesse Minton, an Arlington police spokesperson. The suspect fired two rounds about 6:55 a.m., Minton said.
Police did not describe a motive for the killing, which was recorded by a surveillance video camera.
The suspect ran from the scene and was arrested as officers arrived at the school, police said.
Cavazos commended students and staff for their reaction to the shooting.
“From the time the school went into lockdown to the time they were released from our reunification center, the students were exemplary representatives of our district,” Cavazos said.
