‘I thought my kids were dead’: Students’ families call for change after shooting at Dorchester high school

An 18-year-old student was shot outside Jeremiah E. Burke High School Tuesday morning, following a stabbing last month at the Dorchester school. Another student, who police believe to be the shooter, has been taken into custody. A gun found in the area has been recovered, according to Boston police.

“This is a community that is strong,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said at a news conference at the school. “They have experienced trauma earlier this year. ... What happened today is not okay.”

Williams Varela, an 18-year-old senior at the school, said his teacher kept him and other students calm and followed the lockdown protocols for several hours.

“I never thought someone would bring a gun into this school,” Varela said. “It was traumatizing.”

Varela’s father, Julio, picked up Williams and his sister from school after the lockdown lifted, after waiting to find out more information in the hours after the shooting.

“We need better security,” Julio said. “I thought my kids were dead.”

Officers responded to a report of a person shot at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday and found a teenage boy with a gunshot wound, according to Boston police. The teen, who BPD investigators say was shot in the stomach, was transported to a hospital and is now in stable condition. The suspect — a student who authorities did not identify — is in custody, facing charges that are still being determined, according to the BPD. A motive was not identified, and authorities say the investigation is ongoing.

A student was stabbed in the stomach and shoulder outside the high school last month during school hours and was rushed to the hospital, Boston Public Schools said in a statement.

Jesse Romero, 22, picked up his 16-year-old brother around the corner from the school Tuesday afternoon. He says he was shocked at both incidents of violence that have taken place since the start of the school year.

“We live in Massachusetts, so it’s not something that’s common, you don’t expect it here,” Romero said. “In the first few weeks there was a stabbing and now a shooting. ... With this increase in violence you have to be prepared, you have to be safe.”

Romero says his brother is in the process of transferring to a school closer to home in Allston/Brighton.

“He tries not to put himself in situations where he knows other students have access to violent weapons, but I’m concerned for him,” Romero said. “I mean, he won’t be coming to this school anymore.”

Jeremiah E. Burke was the first high school in the state to come out of “turnaround” status, transforming a school with historically high dropout rates, low graduation rates and a failure to meet statewide academic requirements into a significantly improved institution through an improvement plan beginning in 2010.

School staff analyzed student data and found that about 80% of students had experienced trauma, including homelessness, poverty and gun violence. A case study released in 2016 shows how a strategy to address trauma with sensitivity led to significant improvements in academic performance.

“It’s unfortunate when I think about the work that needs to be done here. We can’t keep continuing to have the same conversation and expecting different results,” City Councilor Julia Mejia told reporters outside the school Tuesday. “This is really an opportunity for the city to wrap their arms around the Burke and work collaboratively... otherwise we’re going to continue to see ourselves in this same situation.”

This process should engage every member of the community and involve city officials and law enforcement, Mejia said, echoing concerns expressed by Wu.

“It cannot be the responsibility of just the school department to address violence in our communities,” Wu said Tuesday morning. “What happens in our students’ lives, at home and in the community, ends up coming out in our sacred spaces of learning.”