Boy Killed During School Gun Walkout

By ABC 7. University Medical Center has announced a memorial for the Parkland Middle School student struck and killed Friday.

Police say 11-year-old Jonathan Benko was taking part in Parkland Middle School’s organized walkout when he and a group of students left the designated walkout area. Police say around 10:30 Friday morning, the group crossed Loop 375 then attempted to cross it again. Benko was the last in the group to cross and was struck by a Ford F150.

Benko sustained serious injuries and was taken to UMC where he died. (Read more from “Boy Killed During School Gun Walkout” HERE)

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Texas Sixth-Grader Killed Crossing Highway After Leaving School During Walkout

By Dallas News. A Texas sixth-grader who left his middle school campus during national student walkouts Friday was hit by a car and killed when he attempted to walk across a highway, officials said.

The 11-year-old boy, identified in a hospital news release as Jonathan Benko, was hit at 10:27 a.m. by a pickup traveling north on Loop 375 in El Paso, the El Paso Times reported. He died later at a hospital.

Students nationwide walked out of classes Friday on the 19th anniversary of the mass shooting at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, to protest gun violence.

The boy was struck while leaving Parkland Middle School in El Paso during the walkout, but he was not participating in it, Ysleta Independent School District Superintendent Xavier De La Torre said at a news conference.

He left in a group of students as part of a “separate, isolated event,” the Times reported. Students walked to the middle school’s football field to gather for the walkout, but a small group hopped over a wall and left campus, according to the students’ accounts to the Times. No other students were hurt, officials said. (Read more from “Texas Sixth-Grader Killed Crossing Highway After Leaving School During Walkout” HERE)

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