Cafeteria worker shot to death outside Fort Worth ISD elementary school remembered
FOREST HILL, Texas - On Thursday night, the community came out in force to honor a Fort Worth ISD cafeteria worker who was killed outside her school last week.
Yolanda Gibbs was found shot several times outside David K. Sellars Elementary on Oct. 11.
Yolanda Gibbs (Source: Forest Hill Police)
Many students, colleagues and longtime friends attended the vigil to share how Gibbs impacted their lives.
"There will be a huge void here at David K. Sellars Elementary," said Karen Buckley, Gibbs' longtime friend.
The community gathered on the hillside at sunset to mourn.
"It was just something about that day, when I kept calling her and she didn’t answer," said Buckley.
Police responded to the school last Wednesday morning before the start of class for a report of a shooting.
They found Gibbs shot multiple times.
She was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Two days later, police announced a "person of interest" in the investigation was found dead.
The Forest Hill Police Department identified that man Thursday as Anthony Harris.
Investigators say evidence confirmed Harris as the suspect in the shooting.
Police say Harris and Gibbs had been dating for about two years.
Forest Hill Police say that Harris has an extensive criminal history and was on parole at the time of the shooting.
"Person of interest" in Fort Worth ISD cafeteria worker's murder found dead
Police in the Fort Worth suburb of Forest Hill say the person wanted for shooting a school cafeteria worker was found dead.
Thursday night, the focus was not on what happened, but on the woman they lost.
"When I first got here I asked, ‘Well, what is your name?’ and she said ‘Just call me lovely’ I said okay, I’ll call you ‘lovely,'" said teacher Mary Clay.
Gibbs spent decades at Sellars Elementary, interacting with students in her work in the school cafeteria.
Colleagues and friends remembered her for a big heart and her personality.
"Yolanda was a mess, y’all know she was. She was a whole piece of work. If you met her, you didn’t meet nobody else like her," said PTA president Keisha Braziel.
So as the many who gathered outside Sellars Thursday released balloons in Gibbs' honor, they remembered how she touched those she came across.
"Many times we forget that first person that sees our kids, if it's handing them the milk or handing them the juice or whatever, how much that impacts their life," said Wallace Bridges, a Fort Worth ISD trustee.
Police say they are continuing their investigation.
The gun from the shooting still has not been recovered.