Since the death of senior Brady Flowers II earlier this month, Jackson-Reed and the surrounding community have sent waves of love and support to Flowers and his family through memorial events, social media posts, fundraising campaigns, and personal outreach.
But even with that outpouring, the community is reeling from the shooting.
The JR football team, on which Flowers was a captain, is especially feeling the effects of his death. “The other day I was crying because it broke my heart to feel him gone,” said freshman teammate Zari Gedeon. “He taught me good techniques [in football] and how to be a man in life.”
Football assistant coach Frankie Lobos said that he had difficulty maintaining his composure around the team. “The players [feel] very numb to his loss,” Lobos said. “They don’t know how to process it.”
On the Monday after Flowers’ death, a DCPS Crisis Response Team was on campus and available to JR students and staff. Lobos said he appreciated the response. The school, he said, “gave me so many resources to speak to people that are helping me make sense of this tragedy.”
Lobos said the coaching staff offered additional resources to help players and process the event effectively. The coaching team kept spring workouts available so players could be together.
Flowers’ death has touched even those who did not know him personally. On Instagram, the jrhs2026, jacksonreedtigerboosters, jrhypecat, and jacksonreedtigerboosters accounts created a memorial post that had almost 5,000 likes as of May 21.
“Today our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of someone who meant so much to our community,” the post reads. “We lost Brady to gun violence, and it’s a pain that no family, no friends, and no school should ever have to feel.”
“Brady, your presence, your spirit, and your impact will never be forgotten,” it continued. “You will always be a part of us—in our halls, in our hearts, and in everything we do moving forward. Once a Tiger, always a Tiger.”
More than 300 comments and 800 reposts flooded in from friends, fellow students, former teachers, parents, and strangers. “My heart is broken, you were an amazing young man and truly one of a kind,” Michael Haller, a teacher at Alice Deal Middle School, wrote. “You will always be my student and [I] will never forget the wonderful moments we shared.”
Many students and community members noticed a change in the emotional atmosphere of the school after Flowers’ death. “I think the tragedy really affected the administration,” junior Darby Trevathan said. “Staff seems really down and depressed, they don’t feel the same as before.”
At a staff meeting after the shooting, Principal Sah Brown became very emotional, faculty members said. “It was very emotional for everyone,” journalism and English teacher Joseph Welch said.
Another big change has been the uptick in security, with an immediate and noticeable increase in Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) presence around Jackson-Reed. Throughout the school day, police cars have been stationed around Tenleytown, with multiple cars in front of JR, on Wisconsin Avenue, and on side streets. “You see them everywhere, and they weren’t there before,” freshman Cy Amos said.
For many students, the increased security makes them feel safe, and it addresses many security concerns. “I like having more police when we go home, instead of deans, cause I feel like deans can’t do anything when it comes to violence,” Zari Gedeon said.
Other students, however, said that police are not the best solution. “Putting more police cars in Tenleytown will not get to the core of the issue,” said junior Theo Segal. “The issue is gun violence.”
JR has been affected by gun violence for years. Since the end of the pandemic, the school has lost several students to gun violence, was locked down because of a shooting in the neighborhood, and weapons have been confiscated by security. The National Gun Violence Memorial website added Flowers to its list of victims. The JR Instagram post asked, “How many more lives have to be taken before enough is enough?”
“Gun violence is a lot closer than we think” Lobos said, “and whenever we experience this type of loss, it’s important for them as young men to understand that it could have been you or your teammate, and you should talk about how we process our anger.”
DC Urban Moms and Dads, a popular forum for parents in the JR area, was flooded with comments about the shooting. Many parents expressed concern about safety. One wrote, “I don’t want my kid to get jumped on the way to school. I don’t want to have to worry that a normal teen spat will turn into violence.” Said another: “Given the known areas of trouble plus the number of schools right there, the police could at least step up patrols.”
Many posters blamed “out of boundary” students as the cause of problems around JR and complained about the school’s response. However, other parents sent support on the forum. “Gun violence is a terrible plague in this country, no matter whose kids are involved,” one parent wrote. Another added, “I feel terrible for this family. Let’s not have another tragedy.”
Initiatives have been started to help raise money for Flowers’ funeral and other expenses. A GoFundMe post for Flowers’ mother, Shantae Flowers, had raised nearly $10,000 by May 21. “No parent should ever have to endure the pain of losing a child in such a senseless act of violence,” the GoFundMe states, adding that “we want to give the community an opportunity to stand beside this family during the darkest time of their lives.” The football team has pitched in as well, selling T-shirts to raise money.
On May 18, around 100 JR students and staff attended the school-sponsored memorial for Flowers, which ended with a balloon release.
“I think all the other chatter about what happened or what didn’t happen takes away from the fact that an 18 year-old kid was killed,” Theo Segal said, “He was a good kid and he didn’t deserve that at all.” •
