CINCINNATI — Three juveniles have been arrested in connection to a shooting that hospitalized two Woodward High School students.
Two teens, ages 16 and 17, were shot in what officials described as a drive-by near the intersection of Reading Road and Seymour Avenue shortly after the school dismissed on April 4. Police Lt. Jonathan Cunningham said Wednesday three juveniles were arrested for their involvement in the shooting. It is unclear at this time if the juveniles were also students at Woodward.
Both of the students shot were taken to local hospitals and Woodward canceled classes the following day "to support the mental well-being of students and staff."
"I feel it was really traumatizing, but I did accept what happened and I am able to move on and accept that there is change coming and there are people here who want to change and we have the power to make the change and we will make the change," said Marcus Simmons, a Woodward High School junior.
On Wednesday, some Cincinnati activists held an "emergency community dialogue" at Woodward High School. Organizers did not allow WCPO cameras to record the event, but they invited us to participate in the discussion. It was during this meeting that CPD Cpt. Mark Burns announced officers arrested the minors for last week's shooting. Students had the floor to express what was on their minds, and what they wanted to see happen at school.
"I'm more wanting to see action instead of just hearing, 'Oh we're going to do this because this is not the first time there should've already been some actions taking place to prevent another time,'" said Cheri Phillips, a Woodward High School freshman. "Parents need to become one with their school because you can't just send your child here without knowing what's going on in your school."
"A lot of kids deal with mental health issues and really come to school to escape what they're going through at home and school is really a place to like change who you are and see who you want to be," said Simmons.
For Simmons, his demands involve making public transportation safer. One example he brought up was bringing back metro buses to pick up students on campus, rather than having the students wait for the bus outside of school. They said they would feel safer if this were to happen.
Here are the demands students listed Wednesday:
- better bus system
- student IDs
- consistent school response on gun violence
- more school speed zone signs posted
- more culturally competent teachers and staff
- increased support for mental health
- consistent interventions with bullying
- more after-school activities, clubs besides athletics
- better media portrayal of Woodward High School
- seeing more of their voices in the community
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