An eastern Arkansas community was grieving after a 16-year-old junior high school student was fatally shot when at least one person fired into the home he was in Friday morning, authorities said.
Taylon Vail was struck by gunfire around 2 a.m. while on a living room couch at his grandmother’s West Memphis home in the 2000 block of East Harrison Street, according to school and police officials.
West Memphis Assistant Police Chief Robert Langston said the shooters targeted the home, but Vail, a rising basketball talent at West Junior High School, was not the person they were trying to shoot.
West Junior High Principal Charles Tyler, described news of the shooting as “devastating” after news of the shooting reached the 504-student school hours later.
“We lost one of our students last night to senseless violence,” read an afternoon statement from the school. “Please pray for this young man’s family and friends and for our students who are trying to make sense of this.”
Vail, a ninth-grade student, played on the school’s basketball team, his principal said. The team posted a message on its Twitter page reading “you will always be loved and missed. Fly High.”
Counselors were at the school Friday for students and teachers needing help.
“It’s an extremely hard loss,” Tyler said. “We’re trying to come together as one community.”
West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon spoke to students, staff and teachers in the school gymnasium, offering condolences while calling for unity and an end to city violence.
“It doesn't matter if you're white or black, we are one here in this city,” McClendon said. “I want to let you know that I love you.”
Extra police officers were also at the school, though police said the seventh- through ninth-grade school hadn't been threatened.
Danielle Bosley, who lives near Vail’s grandmother’s home, was watching videos online when she said she heard rapid gunshots.
“I knew someone had been hurt,” she said, adding that she didn’t hear police sirens for at least 10 minutes afterward.
Her daughter was close friends with Vail and said he was kind and would find ways to make her laugh every day.
“I feel helpless because my daughter is so devastated,” Bosley said. “And as much as I want to teach her and take the pain away from her, there’s not a lot I can do.”
Authorities said Vail died when officers responded to the home, but they hadn't made any arrests as of Friday.
Langston said the teen was staying at his grandmother’s house for a night while his mother was out of town.
Other people were inside the home at the time of the shooting, but none were injured after the shooter or shooters fired several shots at the house, Langston said.
He said people he interviewed Friday told him Vail “was a great kid” and was trying to recover from an injury and get back to playing basketball.
“Nothing about his background leads us to believe he was being targeted,” Langston said.
The department is offering a $2,000 reward for information about the shooting, as well as for details about killings that happened last weekend.
Langston said additional officers will be patrolling West Memphis in the coming days.
The city also announced the police department plans to partner with other local and federal law enforcement agencies in order to curb the recent spike in violence.
Bosley said she still sees room for reducing violence through community building efforts among residents.
“I just want to see us coming together as a community and show these kids that you’re not alone,” Bosley said.