By Jamie Landers
Talia Richman and Kelli Smith
Classes at Franklin D. Roosevelt High School in Dallas were canceled Friday after two students were wounded in a drive-by shooting off-campus.
Officers were dispatched about 6:40 p.m. Thursday to the 2400 block of Bonnie View Road, near the Cedar Crest Golf Course, where police say two boys, ages 16 and 17, were shot inside a car.
The victims were traveling southbound on Bonnie View Road when a “suspect vehicle pulled along the passenger side and fired,” according to police.
A school employee was driving the students, both football players, home when the shooting occurred, according to Dallas ISD spokeswoman Robyn Harris. It was after school hours, but in a rush to get aid the staff member drove the students back to campus.
The students, who have not been identified, were then taken to a hospital and deemed in stable condition, according to police. No arrests had been made as of Friday morning.
Law enforcement officials told The Dallas Morning News that one student was shot in the neck and the other was struck multiple times as their coach drove them from football practice.
Terrence Lowery, a football coach at the school, confirmed to The News that he was drivingthe students home when the gunfire erupted. He said both are sophomores.
Asked if he was doing OK, he said, “I’m fine physically. Mentally, not so much.”
Police recovered multiple shell casings from the scene, law enforcement officials told The News.
Shortly before midnight, district officials wrote on X that the school would be closed Friday “due to a credible threat.” The post asked students and staff to “refrain from coming to campus.”
Harris said district officials encourage students to “see something, say something” when they overhear potential threats to the community.
”The type of information we received was something where we did not feel best holding school today,” she said.
Officials are hopeful the school can reopen Monday, according to Harris. When it does, she said, it will be done with “great consideration for safety.” She expects there will be an additional police presence.
”There’s a lot going on in the community,” Harris said. “That comes with the need to support students and staff who might be on edge — and understandably so.”
The shooting came one day after an 18-year-old student was fatally shot by another student Wednesday afternoon at James Bowie High School in Arlington. Authorities were working to determine a motive, but police have said they believe the suspected gunman, 17-year-old Julian Howard, targeted Etavion Barnes.
Classes were canceled Thursday and Friday, and students are expected to “have the full support of Arlington ISD’s counseling team” when they return.
Two weeks ago, on April 12, a student was shot and wounded inside a classroom at Wilmer-Hutchins High School in southeast Oak Cliff. The student was struck in the upper thigh, an injury police said was not life-threatening.
The following Monday, students walked out in protest, saying they did not feel safe on campus and wanted school leaders to do more.
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.
