Selma reminds students to ‘Arrive Alive’ to prom after Alabama deaths
Selma City Schools observed one minute of silence at 9 a.m. Thursday to remember teenagers statewide who lost their lives in a mass shooting in Dadeville, in recent car accidents and in their community.
“As a school district, we are still mourning the loss of several teens who lost their lives due to car accidents and a mass shooting over the past weekend here in Alabama,” Superintendent Zickeyous Byrd posted in a statement on social media.
“Such loss and tragedy, along with all of the other trauma our students have experienced requires our attention, prayers, and thoughts.”
Selma High School’s prom is this weekend, and Byrd asked for prayers for their classmates’ safety. “Our goal is for our children to #ArriveAlive.”
The hashtag #ArriveAlive is used nationwide to remind drivers to pay attention, don’t text and drive, and don’t drive if they’re using alcohol or marijuana.
Madison Sims and Samuel Brown attended the Paul W. Bryant High School prom together on Friday night. They died in a traffic accident early Saturday, April 15, 2023. (Facebook)
Bryant High School junior Madison Sims and R.C. Hatch High School senior Samuel Brown were killed in a car crash in Tuscaloosa after attending prom together last weekend.
Handley High School senior Terrance Tucker was killed Monday in a car crash in Chambers County.
Dadeville High School seniors Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell and Shaunkiva “KeKe” Smith, described as successful students and athletes by their principal, were among four people killed Saturday during a mass shooting at a Sweet 16 birthday party in Dadeville. Thirty-two people were injured.
A makeshift memorial is created at the scene of the fatal shooting at a dance studio in Dadeville, Ala., Wednesday April 19, 2023. Two teenagers have been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the shooting that killed four young people at a Sweet Sixteen birthday party, investigators announced Wednesday. (Mickey Welsh/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP)AP
Four arrests have been made, each charged with four counts of reckless murder.
Schools in other Alabama districts are paying tribute to victims of the Dadeville shooting by wearing black and gold, Dadeville High School’s colors.
Guns are the leading cause of death for children in the country and in Alabama.
Fifteen Alabama children have been injured or killed by gun violence so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The number, however, is likely higher as it does not account for Dadeville or a number of reported shootings in the Birmingham area.
Read more on the Dadeville shooting:
Read more: Gun violence is now the leading cause of death among Alabama children