[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 68 (Thursday, May 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     THE MICHAEL FLUELLEN SHOOTING

  (Mr. BISHOP asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks and include extraneous 
matter.)
  Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, May 8 was a quiet Sunday afternoon as 
southwest Georgians celebrated Mother's Day in my hometown of Columbus, 
until gunshots blasted and echoed throughout the community.
  In the pull of a trigger and the turn of a corner, 14-year-old 
Michael Fluellen was killed in front of his home, the victim of yet 
another senseless drive-by shooting.
  Michael was a model student and a great athlete. ``He went out of his 
way to make people feel good about themselves,'' one of his teachers 
said.
  At his funeral, a Richards Middle School official read a proclamation 
establishing its own chapter of Students Against Violence Everywhere. 
SAVE, as it is known, works with existing community organizations to 
provide resources that will help students eliminate violence at school 
and throughout the community.
  Columbus Mayor Frank Martin proclaimed May 13, 1994, Michael Fluellen 
Day and members of SAVE and the people of Columbus intend to see that 
Michael did not die in vain; something positive, they say, must come 
from this tragic event.
  This tragic loss brings a plea to the Congress from southwest 
Georgia. We need a balanced anticrime initiative that will punish 
Michael's assailants, provide the youth of America with alternatives to 
violence, and restore sanity to the streets of our communities.

            S.A.V.E. (Students Against Violence Everywhere)

       This organization was created as a student response to the 
     violent death of a fourteen-year-old eighth-grade student at 
     Richards Middle School, in Columbus, Georgia. Michael Marcus 
     Fluellen was gunned down outside his home on Mother's Day as 
     he returned from a neighborhood basketball game. Michael was 
     a model student, star athlete and excellent role model for 
     his peers. Faculty and students are committed to ensuring 
     that S.A.V.E. will be an organization which will eliminate 
     violence at school, home and in the community. With the help 
     of community organizations it is our goal to teach young 
     people ways in which they can break destructive patterns of 
     violence in their own lives. Because of Michael's ability to 
     touch the lives of so many people, Columbus Mayor Frank 
     Martin proclaimed May 13, 1994. Michael Markus Fluellen Day, 
     and members of S.A.V.E. intend to see that he did not die in 
     vain--something positive must come from this tragic event.
       Sponsors: Katie Genes (friend and teacher of Michael 
     Fluellen), Rita Irby, Algracie Jackson.
       Principal: William W. Arrington.
                                  ____


                      Mourners Overflow at Funeral


Drive-by slaying of 14-year-old Richards Middle School student touches 
                        deep chord in community

                          (By Norval Edwards)

       As mourners overflowed Corinth Missionary Baptist Church in 
     Columbus Friday afternoon, some were overcome with grief over 
     the death of Michael M. Fluellen.
       But most in the standing-room-only crowd also seemed 
     perplexed, as if asking why the 14-year-old Richards Middle 
     School student had been killed.
       ``Why did something so terrible happen to someone so 
     good?'' Katie Gemes, a teacher at Richards, asked the packed 
     audience.
       Michael was killed Sunday as he was walking home along 
     Eighth Street after playing basketball near Carver High 
     School. Three men have been arrested and charged in what 
     police are calling a random, drive-by shooting.
       Michael was remembered by Gemes as ``thoughtful and kind to 
     others.''
       ``He went out of his way to make people feel good about 
     themselves,'' she said.
       As people filed into the church to view Michael's remains, 
     his sister, Michelle, wailed, ``Lord have mercy! Why? My 
     brother is dead!''
       Ushers waved paper fans for family members in the crowded 
     church; and two family members, overcome by heat and emotion, 
     were escorted out temporarily.
       During the service, a school official read a charter 
     establishing a chapter of Students Against Violence 
     Everywhere (SAVE) in Michael's name. Students decided this 
     week to form the group as a lasting living memorial.
       A.J. McClung, Columbus mayor pro tem, offered condolences 
     to the Fluellen family on behalf of the city.
       State Sen. Ed Harbison of Columbus challenged students to 
     do their part to end violence in the city.
       In his eulogy, the Rev. Raymond Mays said there's too much 
     hatred today.
       ``People haven't seen the significance in living in this 
     world,'' he said. ``It's time to lose the better than thou 
     attitude.''
       Mays urged the mourners to imagine what a better place the 
     world would be if everyone learned to respect life and one 
     another.
       Gemes said she taught Michael in the seventh and eighth 
     grades. She and Michael, in addition to being teacher and 
     student, had become friends, she said before the funeral.
       She said she will remember Michael's smile.
       ``I called it his `million-dollar smile,''' she said. ``He 
     always had a group around him. He had so much self-
     confidence--the other kids loved to be around him. He never 
     wanted to hurt anyone.''
       Students at Richards Middle School plan to get together 
     next week to talk about how the community can reduce violence 
     against teenagers.
       They've formed a group they call SAVE, Students Against 
     Violence Everywhere. The group plans to meet at 3:15 p.m. 
     Wednesday at the school, 2892 Edgewood Road, Columbus.
       Students, teachers and administrators have also established 
     the Michael Fluellen Memorial Fund, to help the Fluellen 
     family pay funeral costs. The account has been set up at 
     Trust Co. Bank's Cross Country Branch, 3229 Macon Road.

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