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A Philadelphia student who survived 10 gunshots was banned from his senior prom and high school graduation.
Dashawn Walker was shot 10 times on February 21 after leaving Mathematics, Civics, and Sciences Charter School of Philadelphia, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. Walker survived the shooting but sustained broken bones in his legs, forcing him to receive over a dozen surgeries and learn how to walk again.
After spending two months in post-ICU at Temple University Hospital and in rehab at Shriners Hospital for Children, Walker's education was in jeopardy. Teachers and counselors at the charter school, however, promised Walker that he could finish his classes remotely and still graduate in May.
But after police said he was targeted in the shooting, Veronica Joyner, the school’s founder and head administrator, and the school board moved to bar Walker from prom and graduation. Joyner believed that Walker could again be targeted at school events.
“If you’re a target, do I bring that target around other people and get them caught up in a shooting?” Joyner questioned, per The Inquirer. “We would be placing others at risk by having him around.”
Walker said he didn't feel supported by the school as a shooting victim. “I was the victim and I felt like I was the problem,” he said. Walker also claimed that Joyner insinuated that he engaged in illegal activity to afford items he possessed including his backpack, shoes, and prom suit.
Joyner said she sticks by the decision to bar Walker from the school-sanctioned events.
“My heart goes out to Dashawn, but I didn’t create the situation. My actions didn’t involve me in something that got me shot,” she said.
In a statement, District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Jane Roh called Walker’s treatment inexcusable.
“It’s an unacceptable, outrageous act of violence, and it’s a tragedy...There’s no reason any institution should be treating him like he is also a defendant,” Roh said.
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