By Zaeem Shaikh
A teenager who was fatally shot and another who was wounded Wednesday in downtown Dallas worked at a nonprofit restaurant that provides life-skills training to youth who have been in the juvenile justice system.
Omarian Frazier, 17, who was killed, and another teen who was shot were interns at Café Momentum, the nonprofit told The Dallas Morning News.
Margaret Windham, executive director of its flagship location in Dallas, said Frazier was an “inspiration to everyone who knew him.”
“He had a promising future taken away too soon,” she said in a written statement. “The Café Momentum family will remember him as the bright and hardworking young man he was. Our hearts and prayers go out to his loved ones while they grieve this unimaginable loss.”
Dallas police responded just before 6 p.m. Wednesday to a shooting in the 1000 block of Ross Avenue, near the West End DART station, and found the teens shot. Frazier died there, and the other teen was hospitalized in critical condition, police said.
Authorities have not released any information about a suspect or what led to the shooting.
A GoFundMe account set up by the nonprofit for the families of the teens had raised more than $20,000 Friday evening.
Windham said the restaurant was closed through Saturday “to mourn and honor a young man whose life was just beginning and pray for the recovery of another incredible young life.”
Café Momentum employs and trains teens who are exiting the juvenile justice system. The teens practice aspects of operating a restaurant that include cooking, serving and bussing.
They are also paired with a case manager for further support in their lives, helping them with social skills and life skills, including financial education, parenting classes, educational assistance and career exploration, according to the nonprofit’s website. Once the interns graduate, many are placed in a job with one of the nonprofit’s community partners.
“It’s about allowing these kids to see themselves for who they truly are, not the constant labels and stereotypes that society unjustly puts on them,” CEO and founder Chad Houser previously told The News.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas- at the bottom.
