You know, we're always heartbroken when
anyone loses their life in our city,
but especially when it's a young person
the day after school lets out here.
Today we're on the campus
of Mays High School,
my alma mater in my neighborhood,
where tragically, last night a shooting
incident occurred and one young lady,
a rising 11th grader, lost her life.
And a young man is at Grady Hospital in
stable condition from a gunshot wound.
He's also a rising junior.
And so we stand here today calling
against gun violence in our communities.
We want people to be safe in this
city and to also for our young people
who just got out for the summer
to be able to experience a fun,
enjoyable, safe summer.
And so we stand here with
Atlanta Police Department,
APS leadership, APSPD.
As well as our Department of
Parks and Recreation and members
from our year to youth team,
a lot of the members that are all focused on
making sure that our young people are safe,
that they have opportunities,
that they're employed,
empowered,
engaged and have mentorships.
And so this morning I spent my time
talking to two different families,
two different mothers,
A1A mother that has a child that has
passed away and another that's in the
hospital with the child that's struggling.
But is in stable condition those
are phone calls and conversations
we don't like to have.
And but this morning my heart goes
out to both families and definitely
to the family of the decedent.
This young lady was full of life
and was actually expected to be
working for the city of Atlanta
starting on Tuesday in our
summer youth employment program.
So we ask for your prayers and
heart to go out to these families.
My staff has been in contact
with them as well as myself,
victims assistance, constituent services.
We will make sure that they have
all they need. And the days to come.
But what we want to express to everyone
here is that to the young people,
we want you to be safe.
We want you to make quality decisions
about where you spend your time
and who you spend your time with
late in the evening after midnight.
Being able to figure out a way to
go back home versus to find another
destination to hang out and party.
And so we want you to have a safe
summer and we want you young folks
to make quality decisions about
your life choices,
about where you choose to go
and who you choose to hang with.
And also to parents.
We want you to make sure.
That you stay on top of where
your young people are to be able
to keep track of them,
to know where they're going
and who they're hanging with.
In years past and in times past,
as school gets out for winter break,
for Thanksgiving and now for summer,
we are aware that kids get
out and they get
to play. We want to make sure that you
guys are aware that we have a summer youth
plan and that it that involves athletics,
that involves STEM, STEAM that involves arts.
It involves a lot of ways for you to engage.
You can go to www.atl Year of the Youth,
but parents still have to be on top of these
kids and to make sure that they are safe.
And so we're calling on parents,
we're calling on young people,
and we're calling on the community
to continue to wrap their
arms around our youth today.
So we're here at a tragic site of my home,
my school, Mays High School,
where a tragic incident occurred.
And we hope that the rest of this summer goes
without incident because as a community,
this is a group project.
We're going to wrap our arms
around these young people and love
on them with opportunities.
You can go to www.atl Year of the Youth,
sign your student up and also businesses,
sign them up to hire them.
We want them to be employed.
So now I'll turn it over to Lisa Heron, Dr.
Heron,
the APS School Superintendent
for more details about Atlanta
Public Schools response.
Excellent.
So good afternoon.
I am Doctor Lisa Herring,
the very proud Superintendent
of Atlanta Public Schools.
However, this afternoon I stand
alongside our Mayor and other members
of our city and our community to
address the tragic incident that has
happened at the loss of one of our
of one of our own scholars Just days,
just a matter of days after our
most recent graduation ceremonies.
And of course, the close of the school year.
As Mayor Dickens has already
appropriately stated,
we are deeply concerned and committed
about making certain that every single
one of our scholars not only has
access to resources during the summer,
but of course throughout the course of
the school year without being redundant.
I do want to emphasize that
Atlanta Public Schools.
Continues to stand ready to ensure
that our scholars and our families
have access to resources that
allow for them to be engaged,
whether it's entrepreneurial engagement,
employment engagement,
and also in the area of student support,
mental health and behavioral support.
Because this crisis has occurred and
of course, as a public school family,
our hearts absolutely go out to both victims,
those families that have also had a loss.
As well as a child who is currently
still within the hospital,
we recognize that this impact creates
trauma and we want to make certain
that in Atlanta Public Schools,
there is a reminder that we've made
resources available for students.
APS throughout the course of this
entire year has made free telehealth
services available to our students.
Hazel Health still continues to be a
point of access for any family who needs to.
Connect with a counselor or
mental health support specialist.
I want to emphasize that and also identify
that number for students and parents.
That's four O
43836806. Again, that's
404-383-6806 this Tuesday here
at Benjamin E Mays High School.
We will also have crisis team
members on site for staff.
Who may be present,
as well as any potential need
for parents to make contact.
If parents have not completed or identified
resources for their children for the summer,
the school is still a point of contact.
They still can reach out
to the school this week.
As well as the school website
as well as the district,
there are summer programs and resources
that will continue to be available,
as the mayor has already stated.
Our work together for our children,
and not only just this year,
the year of the Youth,
but also for every year,
is to ensure that our parents
and scholars have access to the
resources that can support them.
And we remain committed as a school
system as well as a partner to ensure
that every option is made available.
So again,
a crisis team will be on campus
this coming Tuesday to help
those who might need additional
support and telehealth services.
Are available for all of our students,
but for our maize community,
I do want to emphasize that as well.
For our children and parents,
additional information can be
secured directly from the school
as well as our district as
well as our district website.
Again,
our condolences go out to our families
that have been impacted and to our
parents who might have students who
are asking questions or who have a
need to express other information.
Please contact our school.
Our school principal as well as
our district for us to continue
to provide support and we remain
steadfast in doing all we can for our
children here in the city of Atlanta.
I'm Major Adams with the Atlanta
Public Schools Police Department.
On May the 28th, 2023 we received a
call of a person shot on May's campus.
Once we arrived on the call,
Atlanta Police Department and EMS
was already working the same.
Once we determined the extent of the same,
we reached out to a PD to ask would
they be willing to help lead this
investigation in which they agreed.
We will be working diligently
with a PD as we have always done.
Our key thing is to work.
In conjunction with them and we have
always provided a safe and secure
environment for our students and
we're going to continue to do that.
We're going to continue to collaborate and
work with the Atlanta Police Department
to bring these subjects into justice.
Andrew Smith, Atlanta Homicide,
as Major Adams stated.
We are working in conjunction
with Atlanta Public Schools.
What we do know is that we had children
from across the metro Atlanta area.
And we're asking all parents
to speak for their children
and please contact us.
Crime Stoppers reward is at $10,000.
That number is
404546577 TIPS.
We thank y'all Mr.
Mayor once again as stated,
you know this year I've declared it
the year of the youth in the city
of Atlanta, but as we stated.
Young people were here on this campus last
night from a variety of school districts,
A variety of count counties
and cities around our area.
These young people are connected.
So this year, the youth it should,
it should expand beyond
just the city of Atlanta.
We want to make sure that
children everywhere are safe.
So I'm asking parents across the metro area.
I'm asking youth across the metro Atlanta
area to please consider your safety.
So please make sure your parents
know where you are and parents
know where your children are.
And children looking for a gathering.
Young people looking to gather after
midnight and and finding places to go.
We want you to be safe and make conscious,
quality decisions about where you go.
Our heart goes out to these victims
once again and to this family that
we've communicated with and want to
continue to give our love and support to.
And we stand ready to help APSPD
with this investigation here on
this campus and throughout Atlanta.
APD will be here to serve.
Now take your questions.
I don't know, Do you want to?
She said. Who fired the shots?
That's still under
investigation at this point.
Not at this time.
Everything's under investigation.
Do you know how many people
were involved in your
shooters or investigation?
We know there were multiple, but we are
still investigating the details. The
age range was like the individuals.
I mean, I know you said that Rising,
Rising teams, yes, they were the people.
I know people were involved,
were they the same age or?
High school age students
we also have with us today,
Violence Interrupters.
This is a program that we stood up with
Chris 180 and Offenders Alumni Alliance.
And these are individuals that are going
to be going out into the community
making sure they spread peace,
antiviolence, antiretaliation,
getting to know individuals in the
community to stop incidents and prevent
them from happening before they even occur.
So we thank them for being back here
to help us with that in conjunction
with a PSPDAPD and our apartment
and our parks and Rec department,
all of us are going to be keeping our
eye on the young people this year.
All right, Thank you.