<\/p>\n
Jasmin Prater, center, walks with members of the Westbury High School community as they gather to remember her son, LePaul Warren, a 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of the school in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
An image of LePaul Warren is seen at a memorial site for the 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of the school in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Jasmin Prater, center, walks with members of the Westbury High School community as they gather to remember her son, LePaul Warren, a 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of the school in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Members of the Westbury High School community gather to remember LePaul Warren, a 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of the school in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Jasmin Prater, center, takes part in a balloon release as members of the Westbury High School community gather to remember her son, LePaul Warren, a 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of the school in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
A towel with the image of LePaul Warren is seen at a memorial site for the 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of the school in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Darius Johnson speaks as members of the Westbury High School community gather to remember LePaul Warren, a 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of the school in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Darius Johnson, right, comforts Brother Immanuel as members of the Westbury High School community gather to remember LePaul Warren, a 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of the school in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Ja\u2019Nya Brooks hangs balloons at a memorial site for LePaul Warren, a 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of Westbury High School in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
An image of LePaul Warren is seen at a memorial site for the 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of the school in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Micah Fenix helps arrange items at a memorial site for LePaul Warren, a 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of Westbury High School in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Members of the Westbury High School community gather to remember LePaul Warren, a 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of the school in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Members of the Westbury High School community eat pizza to raise money for the family of LePaul Warren after gathering to remember the 17-year-old standout athlete who was shot and killed Sept. 25 just outside of the school in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Several hundred members of the\u00a0Westbury High School community gathered Saturday afternoon to remember senior LePaul Warren<\/a> and speak out against youth gun violence.<\/p>\n Warren, 17, was fatally shot outside of the Houston ISD campus the morning of Sept. 25. A multisport athlete and aspiring engineer, Warren was a funny and athletic student who made a positive impact on the southwest Houston community, his mom, Jasmine Warren, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “He was a light that lit up everybody’s lives around him. He had a major support system, from family to coaches to all of his friends. He was very loved,” Jasmine Warren said. “We can’t see LePaul through his senior year, going to college and becoming a man we knew he was going to become. It hurts a lot.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Warren\u2019s death came days after Royce Witchet, a 15-year-old Westfield High School student, was shot and killed<\/a> outside of his Spring ISD campus. The students\u2019 deaths have renewed calls for better protections<\/a> against gun violence both inside and outside of campus.<\/p>\n TWO STUDENT DEATHS: Officials push broader safety measures beyond campus<\/a><\/p>\n The United States’ surgeon general has named gun violence a national public health crises. Just like other nationwide crises, it’ll take a village to solve, said Russell Bessard, who works for Harris County Public Health’s Community Health and Violence Prevention Services.<\/p>\n Bessard and his team also attended Witchet’s funeral<\/a> Saturday.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “It’s becoming too normal. Anytime gun violence becomes normal, then we’re definitely doing something wrong,” Bessard said. “A pound of prevention beats a pound of cure. We have to be proactive … That means going to talk to the kids before they get the gun in their hand.”<\/p>\n On the court, Warren was known for taking shots \u2014 and making them \u2014 anywhere on the basketball court, members of his former youth basketball team said. Off the court, Warren was a talented football player known for making his teammates laugh or making TikTok dance videos.<\/p>\n “There’s no time where he was mad or sad about nothing,” former teammate DJ Jones said. “He was always joking around, always trying to cheer somebody up.”<\/p>\n His death has left a hole in the Westbury community, said Jesheika Pratt, a member of that school community. Westbury\u2019s homecoming dance and game were canceled after Warren\u2019s death, and a memorial continues to grow just outside of the campus.\u00a0Travoris Hines, a 17-year-old former Westbury student, has been arrested and jailed<\/a> on a murder charge in Warren’s death.\u00a0<\/p>\n