I am the aunt of Raul Fraire, and I am a public school teacher. His family called him Andy, his friends called him Ralphie, and his teachers called him Raul.
Raul was a student at Emerson High School in Oklahoma City Public Schools. He was involved in Leadership Class at his school. On the evening of April 3, Raul was shot in his chest by a male, 15-year-old, high school freshman. There were two other teenage males present and aware of the plan to shoot Andy; they were ages 17 and 15 years old. Andy had already turned 18. He was sitting in his car when he was murdered.
Almost a year prior to Andy’s death, one of my former students, who was a Hispanic, 16-year-old high school soccer player, was murdered at public park in Oklahoma City. He was with many other high school students at the time of the shooting, but his murder remains unsolved.
It is time to bring a research-based, gun violence education program into public schools. Our children and our students are dying.