A Los Angeles high school student was shot while walking home from school last week. It is the latest in a string of violent incidents involving students in the city.
The victim, who is said to be stable, is a 10th grader at Hamilton High School in West LA. He was walking home in an alley near Reynier Park at about around 3:40 p.m. on Feb. 8. A car drove up and a person fired a handgun from the vehicle, according to police.The suspect has not been identified.
Four months ago, a female student at Hamilton High was sexually assaulted in a restroom. This month, several LA Unified students were robbed while walking to school. One of the attacks was captured on video.
“Is there an epidemic of high violence now affecting our students? Yes,” Sgt. Rudy Perez, a spokesperson for Los Angeles School Police, told the Los Angeles Times. “But we’re doing our very best to address these issues, especially trying to cultivate a culture of safety.”
In the meantime, Perez advises children to stay in groups when walking to or from school and to use well-lit streets with plenty of visibility.