‘My heart dropped.’ Panicked Bowie High parents reunite with kids after school shooting

David Barrera recently threw his granddaughter her quinceañera. On Wednesday, he found out there had been a shooting at her high school when his granddaughter texted his wife.

“Where is Popo?” she asked.

Standing in front of the Arlington ISD Athletics Center waiting for his granddaughter and hundreds of her classmates from Bowie High School to be bused to the center and be reunited with their families, Barrera experienced waves of emotion. Frustration and anger and fear to relief and thankfulness that she’s alive.

An 18-year-old student, Etavion Barnes, was shot on campus shortly before the 3 p.m. dismissal time and was taken to a hospital, where he died. Police said they arrested a 17-year-old suspect, Julian Howard, and they were keeping other students at the school until it was safe to release them. The reunification center opened at 5:20 p.m. when officials started busing students to meet their families. The process continued throughout the night, with some parents waiting several hours to be matched with their kids.

“I’m sad for the person who was shot,” Barrera said. “I’m not glad for any of this. I’m frustrated. I’m angry.”

His granddaughter texted him updates throughout the experience. At one point she said she and other students were told to leave their belongings in the hallway and walk with their hands in the air to the library.

That was a good sign, he said. Walking with their hands in the air meant police were there and she was safe.

Then she told him she’d been loaded on a bus. When they were halfway there she texted him again.

Barrera said he’s reminded his granddaughter to breathe and to pray a prayer her grandmother taught her. He was in Garland when he got the call from his wife that there had been a shooting at their granddaughter’s school. He said he got to Arlington in what felt like just 20 minutes, still wearing his work uniform.

“I’ve always made her a promise that I will always protect her,” Barrera said. “If she’s ever in danger, I’ll be there. I don’t care if I have to fly. I’ll be there.”

Barrera got a little choked up as he talked about how he taught his granddaughter to ride a bike. Taught her how to fish. It was the relief coming, along with thoughts of “what if?”

She’s maintaining her composure, Barrera said, and he’s going to do his best to keep his, for her sake.

Barrera planned to let his granddaughter catch her breath, process her emotions and come to him if she wants. After a little while, he said they’ll sit down, talk about everything that happened and pray together.

When 15-year-old Amiah Barrera walked up to her grandfather, she clung to him. They both had tears in their eyes.

“Don’t let go,” she told him.

“Just breathe, your granddad’s here,” David Barrera said.

After they parted and Amiah Barrera, her father, mother and three little brothers started walking away, David Berrera said he’s glad it wasn’t worse.

“I’m glad this wasn’t another Uvalde.”

Families crowded into the parking lot and stood in a line wrapped around the building as they waited to pick up their children Wednesday evening at the Arlington ISD Athletics Center, at 1001 E. Division St. Police stressed that students would not be released to parents at the high school campus. Parents and guardians should go to the reunification center, they said.

Police asked for patience as parents picked up their children.

“Please understand we have very strict safety protocols we must follow — and so the process of releasing students / staff and bussing them to the reunification center will take some time,” police said in a post on X at 5:30 p.m.

Parents and guardians needed to check in at the natatorium, which is next to the Athletics Center, bring identification and enter the Athletics Center from the entrance located off Division Street, the school district said. Overflow parking for reunification was made available at Lot 11 at AT&T Stadium, police said.

Demitri McGary was at the athletics center to pick his sister up when the buses eventually arrived. He said he got a call from her that something happened at school and they would be taking her to the athletics center.

“She was calm, just upset that some classmates weren’t taking it seriously,” McGary said.

He didn’t know what was happening or that shots were fired until he’d already been on the phone with her for a while. She was so calm, it kept him calm, he said.

“Nobody can really be prepared for something like this,” he said. “Just have to stay calm and keep your composure. … She’s all right and that’s all that matters.”

One mother, Erica Sims, whose daughter is a sophomore, started trying to get to her daughter as soon as she heard about the shooting, she said as she waited at the reunification center.

“I panicked of course. I’ve been trying to find my child and I can’t find my child,” she said.

Sims and her family live in the neighborhood close to the school and she said she drove around looking for her daughter until she was told to go to the athletics center. She initially couldn’t find a place to park but eventually was able to get in.

Sims also has a son who is a senior at Bowie High but he left school early for the day.

When Sims first heard what happened, “My heart dropped,” she said. “I didn’t want it to be my child. I don’t want it to be anybody’s child.”

Sims texted her daughter several times, asking, “Baby, are you there? Are you there? Were you shot?”

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Sims said she doesn’t know how to move on from this. She has told her kids to keep their phones on silent, Airpods in their ears and to stay in contact if anything like this ever happened.

“We never had to learn this coming up,” she said. “We never had to learn how to shelter in place.”

Students, teachers and other staff members were transported at intervals on 50 buses from Bowie High to the Athletics Complex, the school district said.

Each classroom was cleared one-by-one by Arlington police officers before students were allowed to leave. Bowie High has 2,250 students and several hundred staff members, according to the district.

“Words fail me this evening as we grapple with this tragedy that has impacted our entire Bowie High School family,” said Dr. Matt Smith, superintendent of Arlington ISD, in a statement. “Our schools should be safe places where students love to learn and grow, so we’re devastated that violence disrupted that mission.”

The district canceled all classes at Bowie High for Thursday and will make a decision later about the schedule for Friday. School counselors will be available for students and staff as long as needed, the district said.