New Orleans school closing for day of mourning following shooting deaths of two children

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A New Orleans Preparatory School, Success at Thurgood Marshall, is closing for a day of mourning following “a series of unbearable losses.”

The campus will be closed on Fri., Jan. 7, according to a message from school leaders sent out Thursday.

Two Success Prep students, Dillan Burton and Derrick Cash, were shot and killed within eight days of each other.

Burton, 7, was struck by a bullet the day after Christmas while riding in the car with her mother in Algiers. Police are still looking for the suspect’s vehicle.

Cash, 12, was found lying near a vehicle Monday in the Michoud area with several gunshot wounds. As of Wednesday, police have not explained the circumstances of the boy’s death, nor said whether they have developed a suspect or motive in the fatal shooting.

“Please take this time to hold your friends, family, and community close,” the school said in a statement.

More: Murder, carjackings, shootings blemish start of 2022 in New Orleans + Violent crime in New Orleans showing no signs of slowing down heading into 2022

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Copyright 2022 WVUE. All rights reserved.