Millwood Public Schools devastated after two students dead in matter of months
By Alyse Jones
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OKLAHOMA CITY (KOCO) — A metro school district is reeling after the deaths of two students in tragic circumstances.
Millwood Public Schools is a small district, where students from pre-K through high school walk the same halls and campus each day. Now, two of their classmates are gone, and the Millwood family is learning how to go on without them.
Jordan Gulley was in his freshman year at Millwood High School but was shot and killed in northeast Oklahoma City on Saturday.
“Jordan has been with us since 5th grade, by all accounts, just a really quiet, kinda reserved kid,” said Cecilia Robinson Woods, superintendent of the school district. “He had friends who were deeply hurt by this; he had friends who are gonna miss him dearly. This is a human life. It’s a human life that makes no sense.”
Gulley was shot and killed in a neighborhood Saturday, the second Millwood student to die from a gunshot wound this school year.
“It has been a really tough year,” Woods said.
Tyler Taffe, a 12-year-old student, died in late September after a gun went off and a bullet struck him.
“Could not have ever imagined having two situations like this so close together hit our family,” Woods said. “Both of them died from gun violence, period. They’re the same. They both died from very tragic, very avoidable situations, period.”
Now the Millwood community has banded together, honoring their classmates.
“I know the kids who were closest to him definitely remember he was a very true friend, and you could see that when the kids came together on Tuesday that they really missed him and that he was a good friend. He was really loved,” Woods said about Gulley.
Officials said they’re working on a big goal, to promote gun safety outside of school walls.
“It is highly unlikely that either of these children were killed by legally purchased guns. They were likely guns taken from somebody else’s home, from somebody’s car, and being circulated,” Woods said. “We hope that by promoting it and seeing it attached to children that people understand that if they just have guns in their home sitting around, they are susceptible to them being stolen and being used in really senseless and tragic ways.”
Millwood district officials said counseling and mental health services are available for students and teachers as they process the pain and confusion of losing a classmate. They also have gun locks they’re giving families for free in hopes of protecting kids and preventing another tragedy.
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