Cape mayor speaks out after shooting at Cape Central commencement

I am sitting in my empty house as my extended family takes my son, a 2024 Cape Central High School graduate, out to dinner to try to salvage a celebration of his graduation and all he has achieved. I’m not able to go to that dinner, because I am, in gut-wrenching honesty, trying to process what happened a few hours ago at the CHS graduation, where gun violence marred a beautiful family and community event. I am one of thousands of people here in Cape who have had this day turned on its head in a traumatic fashion.

The Show Me Center was packed with excited students, proud families and friends, and school district administrators and teachers who were beaming with the accomplishments of this year’s graduates. As a mom, this was the fourth child my husband and I would see graduate from CHS, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the graduation ceremony more crowded, or with more enthusiasm! The atmosphere was truly special, but that changed just 20 minutes into the ceremony.

As spectators, no one in the arena knew exactly what happened, since the violence occurred outside the arena, on the concourse. However, within seconds of hearing a gunshot, families were fleeing the stands, others were huddled over their loved ones, and terrified graduates were leaving the floor and looking for their parents. It was the most chaotic and scary scene I’ve ever experienced, and knowing that so many in the community also experienced it makes it even more traumatic.

I’d like to commend the school administration for doing a very admirable job in getting some order restored to the event after those first few moments of complete chaos, and then in ultimately steering everyone to safe passage out of the facility. The Show Me Center crew was also excellent in their guidance of the very large crowd. I’d also like to give a giant thanks to the school resource officers who were present, and who ultimately were needed in an extremely important way. The safety of the entire crowd rests on their shoulders and those of all the law enforcement and public safety personnel who were ultimately involved. I’d like to say from a grateful community, thank you to all who rushed into this very bad situation when the rest of us were trying to get out.

I talked with my pastor this afternoon. He reminded me of the need to lament, of there being a time for sadness, for disappointment, for concern. Today is certainly the time for all that, for many of us here in Cape. It is also a time for action, by all who are actively involved in this case, and who will continue to work until this community is safe and public safety is restored. Let’s all continue to support our public safety officials during this incredibly stressful time, and into the future.

There will also be a time soon to discuss the next steps we can and should see to address gun violence here. There are a number of ideas being developed, in conjunction with things already on the ground, to address the root causes of this violence. I plan to bring some information to the community within a few weeks of some concepts being created. Smart next steps will follow, and community engagement will be key.

There will be a time for further discussion of the details of what exactly happened today, and why. That time is not now, as our law enforcement officials and members of the judicial system are doing their work. Right now, our Central families and students, school officials, and city and county law enforcement officers and leaders need our prayers and support. Today, we are sad for our students, we lament the loss they and their families have experienced, and we mourn the violence we have seen in our city, along with what it is doing to our community. Many will be needed to engage in some work to curtail this kind of violence, but despite today’s lamentations, I am thankful that hope remains. We can and will see a better community through this.