mounting tensions

Behind the Spring High memorial shooting and 40-person brawl? Gang rivalries cited

Alleged gang rivalries erupted in gunfire Sunday night outside a church where mourners gathered to honor 17-year-old Joshua Broussard, the victim fatally stabbed at Spring High School.

Witnesses say that reported members of the Brown Pride gang were escorted from Spring Baptist Church during the service. Moments later, a brawl involving as many as 40 people broke out in the parking lot. At least eight shots were fired.

“Everyone just got into a panic attack and started running," Taylor Harris, a friend of Broussard, tells KHOU Ch. 11. "Everybody was falling, trying to duck, because somebody said they saw a gun."

Metal detectors and additional police security are in place at Spring High School.

While no injuries or arrests were reported, fears of gang-related tension between African-American and Latino students continue to rise throughout the area. Metal detectors and additional police security are in place at Spring High School as of Monday.

Following the arrest of 17-year-old suspect Luis Alonzo Alfaro — who remains in jail, facing a $140,000 bail according to public records — the Harris County Sheriff's Office issued a statement saying it believed the school stabbing was sparked by gang rivalries.

After the tragic incident, some parents expressed their concerns about rumored tensions between rival gangs Brown Pride and the Cool Rock Nation. Unconfirmed reports from a Spring High School staffer, however, suggest that Alfaro had no affiliation with the Brown Pride gang, and label the student suspect a "wanna-be."

Both the suspect's lawyers and the Harris County District Attorneys Office are unwilling to label the incident "gang-related" without solid evidence, according to the Chronicle.

The Broussard family claims that Joshua feared for his safety at school after getting into a fight with a fellow student days before his death. Broussard's father tells reporters his son had never been involved in gang activity.

Watch the full KHOU Ch. 11 report on the Sunday melee:

Shots were fired outside Spring Baptist Church during a memorial service for slain student Joshua Broussard.

shooting outside Spring Baptist Church during memorial service for Spring High School stabbing victim September 2013

Photo courtesy of KHOU Houston Channel 11

Shots were fired outside Spring Baptist Church during a memorial service for slain student Joshua Broussard.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”