Detroit Public Schools makes changes to events after shooting

Move comes after shooting at East English Village Prep after event

DETROIT – Detroit Public Schools are making a big change to protect students. The move comes after the shooting death of 19-year-old Darryl Smith.

Smith was killed in the parking lot of East English Village Preparatory Academy two weeks ago after a school event.

"We were going to have celebrity hosts, celebrity DJ," said Kenyamo Bowman, MLK Senior Class officer. "Paid a lot of money and hard work."

But the plans for the MLK High School seniors' Grammy awards night were halted after a shooting at East English Village Prep.

Students and parents were walking out of their Grammy night when police said gang members opened fire on the crowd. Smith was trying to take cover, but was shot and killed.

"They thought it was going to be some more violence at our event," said Bowman.

So DPS canceled it. Bowman said the district will only approve of the event if it's held during school hours. District leaders said they're playing it safe.

The district released a statement saying, "Detroit Public Schools continues to work hard to ensure the safety of all students and families as they celebrate important milestones in our schools and on our campuses. However, due to the recent event that occurred outside of a school after such an event, we have encouraged schools to hold some of their events during the day or revisit the structure of the events in order to ensure our families' safety."

"We believe it wasn't fair after all the time we put in it, wasn't something we did," Bowman said.