“Thank you for picking are class for a pizza party. Thank you for the gunfire contest that was about guns, so it doesn’t kill people when they are in the backyard. Marry Christmas to you. Sincerely, Christopher.” For three years, Phoenix elementary school kids have participated in a poster contest to bring community awareness about the dangers of random gunfire.
In 1999, 14-year-old Shannon Smith was killed when she was struck by a bullet that had been fired carelessly from nearly a mile away from her home. Since her tragic death, a community has rallied to bring an end to random gunfire through programs tagged “Shannon’s Law” operations. Now, more than seven years since Shannon’s death, the public safety operations have reduced random gunfire in Phoenix on New Year’s Eve by 64 percent. The message is also spread during other celebratory holidays such as July 4th and Cinco de Mayo. The winner of this year’s Shannon’s Law Poster Contest has their artwork displayed in the form of a huge billboard located at 2400 W. Indian School Road.
More than 1,300 entries were submitted during the last contest in 2009. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Public Safety Manager/Police Chief Jack Harris recently visited a 3rd grade class at P.T. Elementary School to thank them for their terrific work. As participants in the contest, Mrs. Judy Smith’s 3rd Grade class at P.T. Coe Elementary School received a pizza party and recently took the time to write personal letters of thanks to Chief Harris and the department. 3rd grader, “Celeste” wrote … “I was interested in stopping random gun firing. It was fun to make that poster. I want random gun firing to stop, but I know that random gun firing is going to stop on day. Then I heard about a girl who was in her backyard and a bullet hit her and she got killed. I really want random gun firing to stop. People do random gun firing on the 4th of July and it can kill people. Thank you for picking our class. I really thank you.”
Mayor Gordon and Chief Harris decided to pay the class a visit on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 to let them know that they have made a big difference toward making our community a safe place to live. The slideshow below features their visit and more letters from the kids.