Aug. 25, 2018 - Three individuals were shot while leaving the football game between Raines and Lee high schools on Friday, Aug. 24. One individual was killed and two others were wounded. The shooting occurred on a sidewalk between Raines High School and the stadium at about 10 p.m. Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene addressed the senseless in a video message to the community. Video and transcript are below.
Message
As superintendent of Duval County Public Schools, I first want to extend my thoughts and prayers to the families and friends of the victims of last night’s incident.
One of my fondest memories in my lifetime were my high school days.
And what should have been a wonderful memory for our students and their families last night, turned into an evening of sadness and devastation.
This is unacceptable.
This is becoming our new normal; one that I am not willing to just openly accept.
However, as a community, we all have to stand up and say this is unacceptable.
It is unacceptable that as a community we can’t come together to watch a football game without the evening descending into violence.
Whether it’s in a school during the day, after school during a game, or in the evening in a child’s neighborhood home, we simply cannot accept the violence that is consuming our children and our neighborhoods.
What’s even more striking is that this happened in a venue where there were more than 50 law enforcement officers; a combination of Duval County School Police, JSO and security personnel.
All protocols were followed. This includes wanding every individual coming inside of the stadium.
All law enforcement personnel were in their designated locations; protecting inside the stadium as well as on the outside perimeter.
And violence was still able to happen.
This is a community issue. It requires that everyone stands up and not accept this type of behavior.
I am calling on all of our students, our faculty and staff, our employees. When you see something, say something. We cannot prevent these acts of violence if we are not receiving information from you.
It’s clear that this new normal means there needs to be a new approach.
Over the next few days, I’ll be meeting with school and community leaders and having very serious conversations about our safety and security protocols.
Through our various communication channels, we will share all updates with the community.
Again, the safety of our children is a shared community responsibility. The safety of our teachers and our staff members is also a shared responsibility.
We are Duval. And to be a member of Team Duval means that we leave no one behind.
So please continue to partner with us to ensure that our children and our communities are safe.
Thank you and have a great day!