The day after a senior died from a fatal gunshot wound, Southside High School students gathered in the new gymnasium Friday morning to grieve and console one another. Counselors talked with students, and administrators urged the 529 students to stop the violence that killed 18-year-old Kachavious Hurry.

“To just let it go and just move forward,” principal Luke Taylor said. “It was a very good service.”

Taylor said some students stood and spoke fondly of Hurry during the memorial service. His classmates described Hurry as fun loving and dedicated to a future in the U.S. military. Taylor said he had a one-on-one conversation with Hurry earlier this week, after Hurry was arrested on warrants for assault second-degree, shooting into an occupied dwelling and shooting into an unoccupied vehicle.

“He said, ‘Mr. Taylor, I had nothing to do with that. I got my military stuff to look forward to’,” Taylor said. “He just promised me he was going to do his best to stay out of any altercations.”

Students were directed to the cafeteria when they arrived at the campus along U.S. Highway 80 East.

From there, they assembled in the gymnasium. Dallas County Schools administrative assistant Don Willingham stood on campus Friday morning while students filed into the school. Willingham said he did not know what to expect when he arrived at Southside High.

“It was emotional, but everything seemed calm,” he said.

Many students did not hear about the shooting until they stepped on the school bus or arrived on campus that morning, but Willingham said everyone involved remained levelheaded in the face of tragedy.

“I thought the staff, the administration, and the student body handled the situation as well as anybody could,” Willingham said.

Students remained in their homeroom classes a little longer than usual Friday, and the senior class held a private assembly to discuss Hurry’s death.

By midday, Taylor said the school resumed its normal schedule.

“Things went pretty smoothly,” he said. “We had them all in one spot.”

Funeral arrangements for Hurry will be announced later by Miller Funeral Services.