In his 11 years as principal at Hillside High School in Durham, William Logan has lost multiple students to gun violence. The latest came this week, when a 17-year-old was shot and killed on American Tobacco Trail near the campus. A 15-year-old student was injured in that shooting.
Logan said that he knew both young men personally, and that they were young with much promise.
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"The student who passed away was a senior here," Logan said. "Great kid, really respectful.
"The other student, again, I have a great relationship with him."
He said both were full of potential.
"When you see that kind of potential in any of your students, you want it to blossom," Logan said.
The shooting happened during the school day, in the early afternoon, about a quarter-mile from the school on Fayetteville Road. It's not clear why the boys were on the trail and not in class.
Logan said only upperclassmen with permission are allowed to leave campus during the day.
"There are times that I will periodically leave campus to make sure no one is at the store who shouldn't be," he said. "If they are, I shoo them back to campus. There are times when I go into the trails."
Logan said he cares about all 1,500 Hillside students.
He believes that within the confines of the school building, he can better protect them from the dangers of the outside world.
"What happened on the trail shouldn't happen anywhere," he said. "(It) definitely shouldn't happen in a school. but it shouldn't happen anywhere, especially for youth in our community."
Counselors have met with the family of the student who died.
The younger student who survived is on the football team, according to the principal, and the coaches have gone to visit him in the hospital.
Police are not releasing the two boys' names, because they are under the age of 18.