LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A group of neighbors gathered early Thursday morning at the scene of a bus stop where a student with the Jefferson County Public Schools district was shot to death.
A couple of dozen people gathered for a candlelight vigil at the same spot where 16-year-old Tyree Smith, a student at Eastern High School, should have been waiting to catch the bus Thursday morning. But Smith died Wednesday after he was injured in a drive-by shooting at about 6:20 a.m. at the bus stop near the intersection of Dr. WJ Hodge Street and Chestnut Street.
Another student was shot and sustained injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening. A third student suffered a graze wound.
Those who gathered for the pre-dawn vigil say they join the community in mourning.
Tori Murden McClure, president of Spalding University, says curbing the violence will require that community members change their ways of thinking.
"The 9th Street divide is in our heads," she said. "And until our heads change, nothing else is gonna change. And it's time for us to change. We keep changing the language thinking that it's going to change the situation. We've gotta change ourselves, starting with the folks who look like me."
The shooting has left many in the area wondering if they could have done more to prevent it.
"[I'm] wondering, did this have to happen?" asked Michelle Pennix. "Could we have been more proactive -- more preventative in nature about, you know, how we put kids, how we assign kids, where kids go? What do we know? What do our bus drivers tell us about the neighborhood -- the condition."
Stachelle Bussey says it's a matter of listening.
"Parents yesterday said they had complained about this bus stop before," he said. "They said it wasn't safe, that the kids didn't feel -- that it just wasn't safe."
"Unfortunately yesterday, a child's life was lost. But if we would have believed the experience the first time, we wouldn't be where we are. But we can't stop everything, but we can stop something."Â
Copyright 2021 by WDRB Media. All rights reserved.
