Tears were flowing as they remembered 17-yeard-old Bernard Scott.
"When I leave this world, I leave no regrets," one girl sang.
Scott, a 10th grader at Overbrook, was shot and killed on Tustin Playground after school last Thursday. Some were overcome with emotion as Scott's closest friends shared memories of the teenager. He is believed to be an innocent bystander, shot when a fight ended in gunfire.
Andrew Walker was with Scott that afternoon.
"We heard shots, I turned around. Bernard was just there. I ran back on the field and asked him if he was all right. He didn't want to talk to me, like he was scared," said Walker, also a 10th grader.
A good Samaritan drove the wounded teen to the hospital, where he later died. Devyn Burkett was Scott's best friend.
"I am tired of this. All this shooting, it's got to stop. I can't take it no more," Burkett said. I've already lost too many people because of this."
The school's principal, Ethelyn Payne-Young, implored students to avoid conflict at all costs, and reminded them that this tragedy does not define them.
"This is not representative of our young people. All of our young people are not thugs," Payne-Young said.
Finally, together, they released balloons into the sky for their friend.
So far, two people have been charged with weapons violations in connection with the gun battle on the playground, but no one has been charged with Scott's murder.
