Former Russellville student killed in shooting
A former Russellville student was killed March 26 in a shooting at the Southern Oaks Village apartments in Florence.
The body of Ryland Calvert, 13, was found outside an apartment building toward the back of the complex when police arrived after receiving a 911 call at 4:11 p.m.
Calvert was a former student at Russellville city school system before transferring to Colbert Heights High School in Lexington.
He was an eighth-grade student at CHHS.
Florence Police are investigating the shooting.
“While detectives were on the scene (of the shooting), another involved individual came to the police department to speak with detectives,” Florence Police Sgt. Ryan Kelly said Thursday. “During their investigation it was learned that the deceased and another juvenile (the one arrested Thursday) planned to rob,” another individual, who was an adult
The juvenile who came to the Florence Department was arrested at 3 a.m. Thursday. He has been charged with murder and first-degree robbery, because the shooting death occurred during the attempted robbery.
His court hearing was held Thursday afternoon, and he was charged as an adult. His bond was set at $100,000.
The alleged victim of the robbery has not been charged.
CHHS grieves student’s death
LEIGHTON — Support services and extra counselors are at Colbert Heights High School this week as students and faculty grieve over the death of eighth-grade student Ryland Calvert.
Superintendent Nathan Fuller said Calvert’s family confirmed that he was shot and killed Wednesday in Florence.
Fuller called Calvert “a beloved member” of the Colbert Heights family and said the school district is doing what it can to simultaneously offer support to his family and respect their privacy during this time.
“We want to do everything we can to support our students and our staff,” Fuller said. “This is a terrible and delicate situation, and we want to make sure we … help them through it.
“This is not going to go away on Monday, and neither is the support.”
Fuller said Riverbend Mental Health services will be on campus, as will a team from the Healing Place, which helps young people deal with grief and trauma.
Counselors from other Colbert County Schools will also spend time at Colbert Heights, and several local pastors and church organizations will be available, too.
“We will certainly offer students the opportunity to do whatever they feel like they need to do, whether that’s to get together in a large group, a small group or one-on-one,” Fuller said. “Some of these will be planned, and then some plans will change based on what we hear from students.
“We will make adjustments as needed to best support our students.”
Fuller said he was in touch with Calvert’s family to assure the district’s release of information aligned with their wishes, and he said that he will continue to work closely with them to be aware of service arrangements so that Colbert Heights can plan additional supports for students and staff accordingly.
