
More than 100 students and faculty attended a vigil at Emeryville Secondary School Monday night for slain 16-year-old student Najon Jackson, according to Emery Unified School District Superintendent Debbra Lindo.
Jackson, who would have been a junior at the school this fall, was killed in a shooting in the 9300 block of Sunnyside Street in East Oakland at about 11:15 p.m. Saturday, according to Oakland police. They say they do not yet know the motive for the slaying.
Jackson’s family members, who also participated in the vigil, asked the news media to respect their privacy and not attend, Lindo said.
School board president Miguel Dwin said the fact that so many students attended the hastily organized vigil at a time when school is not in session shows how popular Jackson was.
“He was a cheery, bubbly kind of kid, and everyone liked him,” Dwin said.
Lindo said she did not personally know Jackson because she has only been in her new post for three weeks but said she’s been told that “he was a bright student who had a promising future ahead of him.”
Lindo said Jackson was interested in engineering, liked sports and was planning to try out for the varsity football team this fall.
She said most students knew Jackson because he had been attending Emeryville schools since kindergarten even though he lived in Oakland, as he was an inter-district transfer student.
“Our hearts go out to his family, and our students are really affected by this,” Lindo said.
She said counselors and psychologists were on hand at the school tonight to provide “social and emotional support” to students who are coping with Jackson’s death.
The school “is a place where students can gather and be with caring adults during this difficult time,” Lindo said.
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