Several dozen students and families gathered in the gymnasium of Lamar High School on Friday for a special ceremony in memory of a student killed last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Friday marked what would have been Ja\u2019Shawn Poirier\u2019s 17th<\/sup> birthday<\/a>. Poirier was killed on March 20 after he was shot outside Lamar High School<\/a> before classes started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel right. It\u2019s off. He\u2019s missing when he\u2019s supposed to be here,\u201d his mother Rashone Jacob said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Arlington Police, Poirier was sitting on the steps at Lamar High School when another student walked up and pulled out a shotgun before shooting. The 15-year-old suspect was detained and taken into custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poirier\u2019s older sister Nautica Jacob dropped him off at school that morning. Jacob recalled getting home about 10 minutes later before she got the call that he had been shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s been very hard for me. I have not been able to sleep,\u201d she said. \u201cI never really knew how other people\u2019s pain felt when it happened to them until it happened to me. Like, now I actually understand their pain and how they feel. Now I can relate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lamar High School principal Andy Hagman recalled rushing to the teen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you hear that shots were fired on the east side of the school, it\u2019s stunning. But you quickly move into action. From there, it was just a race,\u201d Hagman recalled. \u201cTo see one of your kids in what was very clearly a life or death situation was just unreal, but you just fall into action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part of the ceremony Friday included a balloon release for Poirier. The crowd wished him a happy birthday as green balloons filled the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kim Cardwell, the mother of a Lamar High School senior, did not know Poirier\u2019s family prior to the March 20 shooting. Cardwell held onto her son Dalton during the ceremony and said she felt the need to attend to show support as a parent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCould have been any one of us,\u201d Cardwell said. \u201cSuch sadness for her [Jacob] That she won\u2019t have her son anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A motive for the shooting has not been released.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Several dozen students and families gathered in the gymnasium of Lamar High School on Friday for a special ceremony in memory of a student killed last month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":567,"featured_media":8141868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-04-29T02:46:36Z","apple_news_api_id":"4e1a3db1-2e32-41b4-8102-a316d975213f","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-04-29T03:25:07Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ATho9sS4yQbSBAqMW2XUhPw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"syndicated_id":"","should_nationalize":false,"nbc_subtitle":"Ja'Shawn Poirier, 16, was killed on March 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Several dozen students and families gathered in the gymnasium of Lamar High School on Friday for a special ceremony in memory of a student killed last month.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":[],"namespace":"core","rendered":"\n Friday marked what would have been Ja\u2019Shawn Poirier\u2019s 17th<\/sup> birthday<\/a>. Poirier was killed on March 20 after he was shot outside Lamar High School<\/a> before classes started.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":[],"namespace":"core","rendered":"\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel right. It\u2019s off. He\u2019s missing when he\u2019s supposed to be here,\u201d his mother Rashone Jacob said Friday.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":[],"namespace":"core","rendered":"\n According to Arlington Police, Poirier was sitting on the steps at Lamar High School when another student walked up and pulled out a shotgun before shooting. The 15-year-old suspect was detained and taken into custody.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":[],"namespace":"core","rendered":"\n Poirier\u2019s older sister Nautica Jacob dropped him off at school that morning. Jacob recalled getting home about 10 minutes later before she got the call that he had been shot.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":[],"namespace":"core","rendered":"\n \u201cIt\u2019s been very hard for me. I have not been able to sleep,\u201d she said. \u201cI never really knew how other people\u2019s pain felt when it happened to them until it happened to me. Like, now I actually understand their pain and how they feel. Now I can relate.\u201d<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":[],"namespace":"core","rendered":"\n Lamar High School principal Andy Hagman recalled rushing to the teen.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":[],"namespace":"core","rendered":"\n \u201cWhen you hear that shots were fired on the east side of the school, it\u2019s stunning. But you quickly move into action. From there, it was just a race,\u201d Hagman recalled. \u201cTo see one of your kids in what was very clearly a life or death situation was just unreal, but you just fall into action.\u201d<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":[],"namespace":"core","rendered":"\n Part of the ceremony Friday included a balloon release for Poirier. The crowd wished him a happy birthday as green balloons filled the sky.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":[],"namespace":"core","rendered":"\n Kim Cardwell, the mother of a Lamar High School senior, did not know Poirier\u2019s family prior to the March 20 shooting. Cardwell held onto her son Dalton during the ceremony and said she felt the need to attend to show support as a parent.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":[],"namespace":"core","rendered":"\n \u201cCould have been any one of us,\u201d Cardwell said. \u201cSuch sadness for her [Jacob] That she won\u2019t have her son anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":[],"namespace":"core","rendered":"\n A motive for the shooting has not been released.<\/p>\n"}],"nbc_attributes":{"size":"S"},"bylines":[{"description":"Lili Zheng <\/span>\nLili Zheng joined NBC5 in August 2019 as a general assignment reporter on weekdays and Saturdays.\n\n\n\nPrior to her time in Dallas-Fort Worth, she worked at the NBC affiliate KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City. Her areas of reporting ranged from crime to the capitol, including key policy issues and the historic teacher walkout of 2018.\n\n\n\nWhile in the Sooner State, Lili also covered severe weather and a number of high-profile court cases. She was the principal reporter in the opioid crisis trial against drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.\n\n\n\nE-mail Lili<\/a> | Follow Lili on Twitter<\/a> | Like Lili on Facebook<\/a>\n\n\n\nAn East Coast native, her on-air career began in Salisbury, Maryland where she was a weekend anchor\/producer and reporter for the ABC affiliate WMDT-TV.\n\n\n\nShe holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in broadcast journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she was an active member of Delta Zeta sorority and worked with Nightline on ABC News in New York City as a college senior.\n\n\n\nShe will soon hold a master's degree in political science from Virginia Tech. 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