BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The Rev. Jorge Gomez was counseling worried parents and frightened students late into the night the day police fatally shot an eighth-grader brandishing what appeared to be a handgun inside his South Texas school. The parents said their children weren't eating, some were running fevers, and needed to talk to someone.
The death of 15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez has shaken this neighborhood along the U.S.-Mexico border, where parents already burdened by economic woes and street gangs are now faced with explaining the tragedy to their children.
Making it especially hard: It remains unclear to his parents and investigators why Jaime — a drum major who danced in his church's annual religious festival, stayed out of gangs and had two parents who closely watched him — could swerve off course and bring a weapon to school. The weapon, police later determined, was a pellet gun.
Gomez, who officiated a wake Thursday night that drew hundreds of mourners to Holy Family Catholic Church, a block from the Gonzalez family home, said parents had called him seeking his guidance Wednesday.
"Probably the last (child) left at midnight," Gomez said. "The parents are very concerned. How is this going to affect the community and their kids?"
Jaime was fatally shot in a hallway of Cummings Middle School during first period Wednesday, following frantic calls to police from school officials who, along with responding officers, believed the boy had a handgun. According to a recording of the emergency call, Jaime refused to drop the weapon.
Among the roughly 400 people at the Thursday night service was Delfina Cisneros, a teacher at nearby Longoria Elementary School. Standing in the back of the church with some of the school's young students, she said she taught Jaime in fourth grade, when his family had just moved from the Houston area.
"The parents were trying their best," she said, adding that Jaime was always respectful and polite. "Check out the neighborhood. That will tell you a lot."
Norma Ponce, an assistant principal when Jaime attended Longoria, said many single-parent homes headed by working mothers are in the neighborhood, which is barely a mile from the main bridge connecting Brownsville to Matamoros, Mexico. Many children whose parents remain across the border in Mexico live here with guardians, she said.
Jaime never got into major trouble, Ponce said, and attributed his visits to her office to "mischievous" things for which he always apologized. She said his parents were supportive if called for any reason.
His parents have lamented police for their actions Wednesday, saying they could have taken non-lethal action. But there was broad agreement among law enforcement experts: If a suspect raises a weapon and refuses to put it down, officers are justified in shooting to kill.
Brownsville interim Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez defended his officers, saying the boy pointed the pellet gun — which was black and resembled a real gun — at police and repeatedly defied their commands to put it on the floor.
Rodriguez said the preliminary autopsy report showed the boy was shot twice in the torso. Family members initially thought he was shot in the back of the head, but that wound turned out to be a cut from a fall.
"It really doesn't change anything at all," his father, Jaime Gonzalez Sr., said after being told of the preliminary autopsy results at the vigil for his son. "If it is a wound from his fall, why shoot him at all? Wound him. Do something else. Use another method."
In a recording released Thursday of the 911 call from the school, the assistant principal says a student in the hall has a gun, then reports that he is drawing the weapon and finally that he is running down the hall.
Police can be heard yelling: "Put the gun down! Put it on the floor!" In the background, someone else yells, "He's saying that he is willing to die."
Before police arrived, school administrators had urged Jaime to give up the gun. When officers got to the school, the boy was waiting for them, Rodriguez said.
Moments before he was killed, Jaime began to run down a hallway, but again faced officers. Police fired down the hallway — a distance that made a stun gun or other methods impractical, Rodriguez said.
If the situation had involved hostages or a gunman barricaded in a room, police might have tried negotiations. But instead, Rodriguez stressed, this was an armed student roaming the halls of a school.
The two officers who fired have been placed on administrative leave — standard procedure in police shootings. Rodriguez expected them back at work soon.
Jaime's father has said he didn't know where his son got the pellet gun. Police believed it was a gift, and a friend of the boy's said Jaime told her that but she didn't know who gave it to him.
The school was closed Thursday while police finished their crime-scene investigation. Students were bused instead to a new elementary school that was recently completed on the outskirts of Brownsville but had not yet been used.
District spokeswoman Drue Brown said 17 counselors were working with students and staff. Cummings has a student body of about 750, but only 200 students came to classes Thursday.
Before the church service began that night, dozens of children and teens in white shirts left the church and gathered outside. They chanted Jaime's name and shouted that they loved him. Some sported tattoos, while others were clean cut. One girl who appeared older than the others yelled that if anyone spoke badly of Jaime, she would make them pay.
Gomez said some of the young people at the service were likely gang members, but said many teens in the neighborhood managed to stay out of gangs.
"I know the parents worry a lot to see their kids involved in violent activities, but I'm sure it's not the only neighborhood in the city or in the Valley like this," he said.
Friday, January 6, 2012
After Texas school shooting, many questions loom - Yahoo! News
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
How to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions - 5 Tips to Increase Your Self-Discipline | Maine Kyokushin Karate
You all know you make them. But like millions of other Americans, you just make empty promises to yourself. I know you really want to improve your fitness level, lose weight. I know you want to ace your next belt promotion. But just because your a martial artist, does not mean that you automatically know how to control your diet, become disciplined in your workouts or become focused enough to reach your goals.
This post is the first in a series to help karate students actually achieve their goals. But it’s not enough to just read the post. You can’t expect to improve your self-control or any other aspect of life without actually taking action. I’ll give you the information…you have to take the first step…
Tip #1 – Don’t Wait to Improve Self Discipline (start today!)
I had a heart attack. So I cut back on stress and decided to eat healthier.
Great. But why do people start making changes AFTER they damage their health?
Many times people don’t pursue more self- discipline until they’re in trouble. For example, the person who is a workaholic thrives on a busy schedule, that is, until they have a heart attack. Then they see the need to learn self-control and change their lifestyle. As a result, they take action and make it happen.
Set doable goals. To reach a goal it needs to be realistic, otherwise it can be a step back instead of forward. If the goal is set too high then you will fail and think its proof of the fact that you can’t do it. Whereas, if there would have been several small goals that led to the larger one you would have kept going forward.
Tip #2 – Change Your Bad Habits Now
I don’t know why I gain so much weight. I guess it could be the cookies, chips & ice cream I buy at the grocery store.
Really? You think?
It’s the bad habits that get in the way of self- discipline. A person who wants to lose weight can’t keep the bad habit of getting in the fridge every night at 10:00 to eat cookies and milk. This bad habit has to go!
Stop temptation in its tracks!
If you eat cookies and milk at night, don’t buy the cookies in the first place. Don’t get home and change into your pajamas; change into your dogi. You’ll be more likely to make class if you’re not lounging on your couch playing video games.
Set a doable goal of eating right and/or working out. Twice a week. Then three times a week. Throw out junk food that you KNOW you should not be eating.
Tip #3 – The First Step is Always the Hardest
But change is hard.
Well, obviously.
But if you make it a habit, it becomes much, much easier. Do something you know you should do daily, but don’t. Self-discipline is all about doing what you don’t want to do, but need to do. Things that will give you a better quality of life are worth pursuing. This could be exercise, eat healthier, get more sleep, read, time with family and so forth.
Plan the day and activities. If you’re not used to planning then start simple. Write down five things that you want to accomplish the night before for the next day. Then the next day mark them off as you do them this is basic self-discipline. It’s also forming new good habits and tracking progress.
Tip #4 – If You Fall Off the Wagon…Get Right Back On
I just had 5 pieces of pizza and finished it off with Ben & Jerry’s. It’s all over now. I’m a complete failure.
Quoting the ever-wise Miley Cyrus…”Everybody has those days”
We all make mistakes. Skip workouts, indulge in cheesecake when we should be having a salad. Whatever your “mistake” may be, don’t let it ruin all the progress you have made. EVERYONE has days where they lose control. The trick is to get back on track as soon as possible.
Don’t beat yourself up over it, just make better choices next time.
Tip #5 – Stop Making Excuses & Whining About It
I’m not fat, I’m just big boned. (Really, just ask my mom)
I don’t have time to workout. (But I do have time to watch the… Kardashians? Red Sox? American Idol? Or perhaps play Halo?)
I don’t have enough money. (But I have enough for ……..Smokes? A six pack? New shoes?)
EVERYONE can make excuses for every action they should be taking. EVERYONE has issues, problems, stress, family commitments, etc. You are not the only one and the rest of us do not have all the answers.
Stop giving excuses for your bad behavior. If you want to improve your self-discipline, you are the ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD that can make that happen.
If you want to lose weight, do something that will put you on the right path. If you want to increase your fitness level, you have to workout. If you want your Black Belt, go to class. Period.
The solution is easy. Implementation is not. So what are you going to do today to implement more self-defense into your life?
