ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Local faith leaders and educators gathered in prayer at Pine Hills Elementary School Wednesday evening.
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Three students there have been killed in the past three months- 2 of them due to gun violence.
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“I just never would have imagined I would wake up to a phone call saying that one of my babies is no longer here,” one teacher at the vigil said.
In late February, students release balloons on the school’s lawn days after Tyonna Major was shot and killed in her home in Pine Hills.
Then, on April 2, Pine Hills Elementary School Educators say one of their students, a young boy, was hit by a car on North Pine Hills Road and Dolores Drive.
Then, just this past weekend, seven-year-old Cameron Bouie was shot and killed in his home in Parramore.
"I am heartbroken & angered by the senseless violence in our community. This is the third child who has died from Pine Hills Elementary in the last three months, the second from senseless gun violence. This will not stop until we all work to end these appalling tragedies."
— Supt_Vazquez (@maria_f_vazquez) April 10, 2023
School leaders say they’re having a hard time with all the loss, and coming to the classroom everyday is becoming a challenge.
“I knew that my district was suffering,” School Board member Vicki Felder said. “They were sad, and I didn’t have an answer, but I know the person who does. I know God.”
As much as they want to put the tragedy in the past, the teachers say the three children were very much a part of their lives.
“We are the parents when they’re here with us and we unconditionally love them and just to know that they don’t really understand and that they’re still looking for their classmate, their friend on a daily basis,” another teacher said.
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That’s why district leaders say they’ll do whatever they can to help, and that support starts now.
“I have a principal that wants prayer,” Felder said. “And she needs to know that you are behind her.”
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