Shooting At Garfield Wounded Student Body

GARFIELD HIGH students remain haunted by the shooting that turned their world upside down, and determined to make something positive result. ---------------------------------

Days after ambulances and police left Garfield High and the calm returned, a shooting at the school nearly two weeks ago continued to haunt sophomore Genny Nine.

The 16-year-old girl was inside the school's crowded lunchroom on Jan. 12. Fifteen feet separated her from the angry freshman accused of firing no fewer than 14 rounds. Nine looked toward the door to escape, but it was too far away. She dove to the floor, taking another girl with her.

"I don't think I'll ever look at things the same way again," Nine said, moments before tears again began to flow. "It was so terrifying, just having that feeling: Some kid behind me had the power to take my life away."

Nine also was frightened to see adult staffers as shaken as students. "I really, really wanted someone to stand up and be superhuman (and say) `Listen: This is what happened. This is what is going to happen now. Everything's going to be OK.' "

Students Hassan Coaxum Jr., 18, and Rachel Thompson, 15, were wounded by bullets sprayed through the crowded lunchroom and halls. A 15-year-old student - who according to charging papers told police to call him "Mr. Murder" - was arrested.

In the meantime, other victims are trying to cope with the city's first in-school shooting. In the 1,600-student school there are many distinctive voices.

Some think the entire Garfield school community became innocent victims. Many students consider Garfield a home away from home. Gunshots that ripped through walls also shredded the notion that school - any school - can be a safe haven.

"It was kind of like someone came into your house with a weapon and shot between the kitchen and the bathroom," said Marlon Gobel, 17, a junior.

Some students struggle to remain trusting in the face of such a violation - and make no distinction between the shooter and the aggressive media who followed.

"First this person does this to our school. They give the students a scare, they give the teachers a scare, they give the entire community a scare," said sophomore Peter Johnson, 16. "And then the media sort of amplifies what that person did and makes them famous for it."

Other students are more introspective and mourn their premature loss of innocence.

"I still consider myself a kid, and my belief is that kids are supposed to have dreams and have fun while they are still young. But that got taken away from us, and it was overtaken by fear, worrying and the anti-faith feeling," junior Hanna Seyl, 17, still raw from the episode, wrote on her home computer.

Many at Garfield are trying to turn the negative event into something positive.

Ben Cokelet was so saddened by the Garfield shooting that it left tears in his eyes. Now the 18-year-old Garfield senior, an activist with the Seattle Young People's Project, hopes to organize an all-city rally and candlelight vigil in March.

Martin Gobel's contribution didn't take months of planning, just a few hours of painting. The junior-class vice president decided the night of the shooting to paint colorful posters to greet returning students. One, promoting nonviolence, still hangs in the office.

"I'm really proud of this school for how well it's rebounded," he said. "We're more aware. We're more positive. This isn't going to happen again in our house."