Students at GAR High School are spending their first day together since the shooting of 14-year-old Tyler Winstead as they try to cope with the murder of their classmate.
Counselors are trying to help those students through a rough time.
It looked like an average spring morning at GAR High School in Wilkes-Barre. It wasn't.
It was the first day of school since Tyler Winstead died. He was gunned down on Hill Street Thursday evening.
Maria Johnson talked about her friend, Tyler.
"He was a cute little boy. He was always walking through the hallway. I'd say hi, mess around with him," said student Johnson. "He was cute. I don't know. There was something about him that drew him to you, so. "
Dashym Weeks will remember Winstead as a good basketball player and a good friend. Weeks still has problems dealing with the shooting death.
"I was like, he didn't really die, but he did. I cried, you know. I cried. I laid down on my bed, like forever, thinking why, why him, ya know," said Weeks.
The Wilkes-Barre Area School District brought counselors to GAR Tuesday morning. The administration said it is important to talk about what happened.
This hasn't been the smoothest spring at GAR High School. The death of Tyler Winstead is the second violent incident involving a gar student this year.
A student was attacked with a machete in February. Like the Winstead death, it was off school property and after school hours.
Newswatch 16 asked Assistant Principal Anthony Khalife if GAR has an image problem. He said it is not a GAR issue, it's a Wilkes-Barre issue, and at GAR they are working to fix it.
"We continue the good fight. We're a neighborhood school. We have a strong family tradition here. We want to keep it that way, and we want to make sure everybody feels safe coming to our school," said Khalife.
As for the Winstead shooting death, assistant principal Khalife said counselors will be at GAR for as long as they are needed.
The viewing for Tyler Winstead is Tuesday evening, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Mount Zion Baptist Church on Hill Street. He will be laid to rest after a service at that church Wednesday morning.