Parents lash out over Pico school shooting
Angry and afraid after last week’s drive-by shooting in front of an elementary school here, hundreds of parents lashed out at community leaders on Monday night.
Many blamed officials for the non-fatal shooting and demanded that additional safety precautions be taken, including the placement of a permanent police officer at Edison Elementary School and the potential barricading of Virginia Avenue, often used by criminals as a quick escape onto Interstate 10.
“This is not happening in all of Santa Monica, OK?” said an emotionally charged Sarah Carillo, an Edison parent and one of more than two dozen people who spoke at the Town Hall meeting in the school’s cafeteria. “I would like this to be more than a good photo-op. These are our children, OK? You need to realize that.”
A panel consisting of City Manager Susan McCarthy, Chief of Police James T. Butts, Jr., schools Superintendent John Deasy and Edison Principal Ernesto Leon responded by saying they were doing all they could to protect students and residents, but added they were bound by financial and practical limitations.
Parents didn’t sit back quietly. Many challenged officials openly, disregarding the scheduled agenda for the meeting and speaking out of turn. Others shouted at Butts, “It’s not enough” and “Why didn’t you do it last time?” They booed when the moderator attempted to end the meeting.
“We’re just going to keep asking and asking and asking until we get something,” said Parent-Teacher Association Co-President Carol Davis, who commandeered the microphone at the close of the meeting.
Officials announced the meeting one day after the Sept. 28 afternoon shooting, which was witnessed by neighbors and young students in an Edison after-school program. The school went into lock-down mode until police managed to clear the scene.
Deasy told the group he was at Edison Elementary minutes after the shooting, before ambulances arrived on the scene. Leon said counseling has been offered to the victim’s family and to all Edison students.
Police said a car of alleged Los Angeles gang members pulled alongside a 16-year-old bicyclist, yelled a gang slogan at him and fired 14 rounds from a handgun, missing the young man but forcing him to the ground and injuring his lip.
Police said they had no reason to believe the victim or his relatives were involved with gangs. Parents said the shooting served as a frightening reminder of the ongoing violence in eastern Santa Monica. For their own safety, the victim’s family has been moved to temporary housing, courtesy of the school district. The family lives in the Pico neighborhood and has four students in the district.
In addition to maintaining a permanent police presence at Edison and possibly closing Virginia Avenue, parents requested special gates be installed at the school that open only from the inside, as well as a school safety analysis be conducted by an outside group, a protocol be established for reacting to future incidents and more money be spent by City Hall on youth programs in the Pico neighborhood.
While school officials said they already were pricing the special gates and agreed the safety study was necessary, city officials raised practical and financial concerns to the other requests.
According to McCarthy, City Hall already spends $7.5 million on youth programs and will add more programs when the expanded Virginia Avenue Park opens next July. She said further financial resources were not only unavailable, but were unlikely to solve the larger societal problem with gangs. As for closing the busy Virginia Avenue, McCarthy said the effect on neighbors would have to be considered.
“The fact of the matter is that this entire neighborhood is relatively freeway convenient,” she said. “We’re not sure that closing any one street is going to lower the danger overall.”
Butts recited the significant drop in crime rates over the last 10 years, saying the trend mirrored his success as a police leader in other communities. Adding a permanent Edison police presence, however, wouldn’t be the best use of funds in an eight-block area that already has the strongest police presence in the city, he added. The Pico neighborhood currently has a special bike force and extra officers are brought in as needed.
“I will not let you down as far as protecting your children,” said Butts, as parents and community members responded with mixed shouts of “You already have” and “Shhh, let him speak.”
“I accept your criticism,” Butts continued, after the crowd had quieted. “You have to hold me responsible. We will do our best to assure the absolute safety of your children, and that’s all I can say.”
In the meantime, Edison principal Leon said the school will be conducting frequent drills to practice the lock-down procedure and will distribute detailed information to parents. The Edison PTA plans to take up the matter with Deasy and other officials at its meeting on Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m.
Frank Kosa, a 15-year resident of Santa Monica who has a son and a daughter at Edison, pointed out that Edison is a special language academy which uses an immersion program offered in only five schools across the country.
“I believe in my heart this is the right place for my child to be,” he told the panel. “These are the future leaders of America.
“We must make sure they live to see their future.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 6, 2004. Read the original PDF.