Deadly Shooting Outside Eisenhower
On March 15th, 2022, a group of three kids, all of which were related, walked around the perimeter of Eisenhower’s campus. They did that intentionally because one of them had already been trespassed at least once and wasn’t allowed to be back on the campus. The group of three went towards Eisenhower wanting to start an altercation and did just that. An 18-year-old who attends Eisenhower was getting ready to get in a fight with Shawn Tolbert, who was in the group of three when one of the cousins pulled a gun out and shot the 18-year-old in the wrist. Not only did an innocent bystander get hit, but the shooter also accidentally fatally shot his cousin, Shawn, in the back. The altercation occurred in the parking lot outside of Zaepfel Stadium around 2:50 p.m. and shots were fired at around 2:54 p.m. Shawn Tolbert, who unfortunately became a victim in the shooting, took four steps before collapsing on the sidewalk near the north bleachers of the stadium.
Police were on the scene within one minute and within five minutes there were roughly thirty officers. The suspect and his friend ran towards C&S Coffee Shop burying the gun and taking off a sweatshirt and hat. The suspect, an eighth-grader, was caught later that night and is currently being held with a $500,000 bail at Yakima County Juvenile Court. He is being charged with second-degree murder, nine counts of first-degree assault, one count of second-degree unlawful firearms possession, and one count of carrying a firearm on school property. Despite fatally shooting someone and also shooting a bystander, he is not being tried as an adult.
When it comes to trying a child as an adult, some of the factors that they have to consider are: the severity of the crime, the suspect’s criminal history, their level of maturity, and the possibility of rehabilitation. Not trying this suspect as an adult is a clear example of the justice system failing and not providing some sense of closure for the victims' friends and families.
The suspect went to Eisenhower with a gun illegally, with the intent to either scare or shoot someone. I believe in this scenario, the suspect needs to be tried as an adult. When looking at the rehabilitation prospect, you need to consider that throughout this entire year, he went to Wilson Middle School for one day a week before the shooting. This is someone who clearly does not care about getting an education, which is why I believe his rehabilitation prospects are very low. If not charged as an adult for the murder, he should at least be charged as an adult for the gun and assault charges.
Some people may argue that he needs to be tried as a juvenile because prosecuting him as an adult could make him more susceptible to experiencing or witnessing assault. People also argue that charging children as adults denies them education, treatment, and counseling, which would get in the way of healthy development/rehabilitation. As I stated before, the suspect’s constant absence from school shows he doesn't care about receiving an education. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it might not change, but it seems like a very serious charge, like murder, should almost always be tried as an adult.
I got the chance to talk to Shawn’s girlfriend, Jaelee Martinez, and ask her some questions about who Shawn was. Jaelee and Shawn had been together for one year and seven months before his unfortunate passing. She described Shawn as someone who was very genuine, respectful and always had a smile on his face. She also said that during a lot of situations he would find a solution to fix it and would talk to you without any judgment, helping you through a tough time. Before his passing, Jaelee said he was finally figuring himself out and turning into the best version of himself. In a social media post after his passing, Jaelee wrote, “I wish I hugged him tighter and longer before I let him walk away, there’s nothing he did to deserve this one bit. He was one of the best people to come into my life. I don’t understand why now it had to be the time for you to go and I wish you were still here with us so I could see your smile one more time. I hope you knew how much I loved you and know I will always continue to love you.”
I believe Eisenhower’s response to this tragic event has been very insensitive and disrespectful to the victims’ families. They are so adamant that this shooting had nothing to do with Eisenhower because the suspect wasn’t an Ike student and it wasn’t technically on Ike property, it was on Yakima School District property since the stadium is shared. In reality, this does involve Ike because it happened in the front parking lot where the majority of staff and students park. Not only that, but the innocent bystander who got hit in the wrist does go to Ike. Just because the shooter didn’t, doesn’t mean Ike has nothing to do with this. Calling each grade level down into the auditorium the next day and making sure everyone knew this didn’t involve Ike was very inconsiderate, especially towards the bystander who was hit. The group of three went towards Eisenhower's property to get into an altercation with an Eisenhower student, which they did. Yes, the student who got hit is okay, but that doesn’t take away the fact that he got shot right outside of Ike.
Mr. Diener would like to thank the parents for being very cooperative with everything that night. He also told me that he believed trespassing the non-student from Ike, “helped keep the student off grounds”. I somewhat agree with him, but at the same time, the non-student did still make his way towards Ike, he was just careful enough to not step on Eisenhower's property. Mr. Diener also said, “police and the Eisenhower administration debriefed that evening and we are still looking at ways to improve our safety. This is a tragedy but this will not define the character of Eisenhower staff and students.”
A memorial for Shawn Tolbert was held on March 17th, 2022, outside of Yakima Online. People brought flowers, stuffed animals, and other mementos in celebration of Shawn’s life. Shawn did not deserve what happened to him and the only thing left to do is fight for the justice he and his family deserve.
Such tragic events like death, prompt people into posting photos of the victim in remembrance of who they were. The only issue with this is when people who barely know the victim, post them and pretend as if they were closer with them than anyone else. I’ve seen people post Snapchat memories of Shawn that were over a year ago, pretending as if they were best friends, knowing very well that Shawn might not have even considered them friends. When people hop on what seems to be a “trend” of posting him, it makes the people who were actually close to the victim feel understandably frustrated and hurt. Jaelee mentioned to me that when Shawn died, people continually asked her for a picture of him. After sending a picture of him, they posted it pretending as if they knew him. She understands that a lot of people just want to pay respects towards Shawn, but pretending as if you were friends does a lot of emotional damage to people close to him. Before you make a post about Shawn, please consider your role and relationship with him. I understand we shouldn’t necessarily compare grief, but you need to give the victim’s immediate family and inner circle time to heal.
