TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa Public School superintendent Deborah Gist talked about the shooting death of Terron Yarbrough at the McLain homecoming.
The shooting happened Friday night at the school's homecoming game. Yarbrough died, three others were injured. Gist said the McLain team is "heartbroken" and focusing on nearly 800 students who need support.
She also shared some details about Yarbrough. "He was incredibly smart. He was the kind of student that teachers said picked up stuff so quickly that other students relied on him for help and support."
READ MORE: Family remembers teen killed in shooting at McLain
She called his loss immeasurable to those who knew him and those that didn't. "He was also an athlete. He was a supportive friend. He was loved and he was treasured and he had an incredible future ahead of him."
She also talked about the other victims in the shooting including another student who is still hospitalized and two others that were treated and released.
Gist said in the days following the shooting the district focused on students, their McLain team, TPS police and law enforcement to make sure they're bringing students back in the safest way possible. She said they are making some changes such as where people enter and that kind of thing.
When it comes to safety at games Gist said moving forward they plan to stagger games in order to give security personnel more time to travel between games. There were three security at the beginning of the game and three additional joined after another game ended.
The district at Tulsa police have a "very strong" relationship. She also said last week, before this incident, she reached out to Mayor G.T. Bynum to talk about growing safety concerns and talked about bringing together area leadership to talk about plans.
Gist said there is an "epidemic of gun violence" across the city, state and country. She urged people to share if they see or hear things that concern them and called for stronger leadership across the state.
"Typically you would see more than just like a sort of demand people do things, that they are already attempting to do, if you’re a leader and you have a concern about schools and safety you would make an investment in those, you would bring people together. You would lead. You would show leadership. I haven’t seen that happen and I think that’s a problem," she said.
Students will return to classes at McLain on Thursday. They do not have a football game this week because their opponent forfeited rather than play the team.
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