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MIRAMAR, FL
05/05/06
Devon Sutton, 19, loved to dance. Friday
night, May 5, 2006 he attended a school dance at Parkway Academy
Charter High School. After the dance, he was shot to death in an
altercation in the parking lot.
While police do not have a suspect in the
shooting, they arrested the Assistant Principal after interviewing him
at the scene. When they ran a background check on the Mr. Lumpkin,
they found he had an outstanding warrant for DUI. He was booked on a
probation violation and other records indicated a previous conviction
for theft and another arrest for battery. To his credit, Mr. Lumpkin
was the only administrator present at the dance.
It was also discovered that the school had only
one security person for the evening and no off-duty Miramar police.
One member of the school board is reported to have told reporters that
he was not sure what the school’s security policy is. The principal
could not be reached for comment.
The school has an enrollment of about 500 but
witnesses report that the attendance at the dance over 1000. Many were
school age but many were beyond school age. A relative of the victim
told reporters that the school has a lot of dances but there are
always fights and this is not the first time a gun has been there. He
said that he had stopped going because the dances were just too
dangerous.
In November of 2005 a 17 year old girl shot
another girl while riding to this same school on a school bus. Miramar
and Parkway Academy are located in Broward County, Florida, the
nations 6th largest school district and growing.
The report leads to the inevitably question:
“What is your school policy for sponsored events?” Sporting events and
social events bring in revenue and outside people. It is important for
your school to consider how it will meet potential and unforeseen
challenges in such events. Consultants from Keys Multi-disciplinary
Team can help you form and implement policy, procedure and practice to
make your school a safer place—during and after school hours.
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UPDATE 5/1206 Police arrested a 10th
grader in his Miramar home today on charges of 1st Degree Murder for
killing Devon Sutton. The name of student was not released as he is a
juvenile. Additional accounts of incident say that Devon was involved
in a fight in the dance and afterward went looking for that person.
Reportedly, Sutton climbed a fence to get to the car that held the one
who had been fighting. He then produced a gun and started hitting the
window with it. The 10th grader produced his own gun and shot Sutton
in the head. Further records search indicates that at the time Sutton
was on probation for aggravated assault with a weapon and possession
of cocaine charges from 2005.
If you are not sure if your school has a plan or
policy or if you are not sure your school has adequate training in
prevention and preparedness, contact
Keys To
Safer Schools.com today for assistance from the
Multi-disciplinary Team.
If
you have any comments or questions please Email us at
keys@keystosaferschools.com.
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(501)246-8835
