The Harrisonburg High School community walked out of class on Monday afternoon in support of the family of a classmate who was killed over the weekend. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
[sound of wind blowing, students talking, walking through the grass]
MAN [in the distance]: Long live Calour!
Just after 2 p.m., the entire student body quietly swelled over the school’s football field. Many of them wore red – which was 17-year-old Calour Fields' favorite color. The junior was shot and killed around 12 a.m. on Saturday, as was 22-year-old D'Angelo Gracy from Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Superintendent Michael Richards said Fields had an infectious smile, and played on the football team.
MICHAEL RICHARDS: I think that you can see from this gathering [clears throat] the kind of feelings people have, the feelings of support and love. The feeling of the loss. And I think that the way the students planned it, to make it into a circle, really reflects that love and that support and reflects the strength of our community.
In the center of the circle, Fields' mother and other loved ones embraced.
RICHARDS: And then others, which was really beautiful to me, others who know the family kind of came out slowly into that inner circle and … started to show her support and some love. It was so moving, because all these kids who are normally very stoic were in tears.
The shooting took place at a party on or near Newberry Lane just south of the Harrisonburg city line. The Daily News-Record reported on Saturday that the sheriff's office did not yet have a suspect in custody.
