Siobhan McAndrew

smcandrew@rgj.com

Devin Clark walks up to front doors on Trainer Way in Reno. He holds a red binder filled with lined school paper. He knocks.

Devin, 16, looks nervous as he explains his presence at dozens of homes in the neighborhood. A mile up the road at Hug High School, his brother Logan was shot by a school police officer as he waved knives in a crowd of students on Dec. 7.

Devin is asking people to sign a petition demanding laws that would require Washoe County School District police officers to carry pepper spray and Tasers, and that those be used as a first response when what happened to his brother happens next time.

According to Reno police, a school police officer told Logan, 14, to drop the knives he was wielding after reports of a fight. Soon after, the officer fired one shot, hitting the high school freshman in the chest.

“It helps take my mind off it a little bit,” Devin said as he walks door to door, explaining to neighbors that he is the older brother of the boy who was shot. Devin looks like his brother. Wearing only a white t-shirt with #loganslaw and #Isupportlogan handwritten with marker, Devin insists he’s not cold.

Lawyer questions district's policy after officer-involved shooting at Hug

It’s his brother he is worried about.

He said Logan is in stable but critical condition. Logan had a stroke on Friday and is in a medically induced coma after brain surgery.

Devin has been at it for two days, between hospital visits. Tuesday morning, he tried asking for signatures outside the Walmart on Second Street before he was asked to leave.

“I tell him that I love him and we are rooting for him,” said Devin of visiting with his brother in the intensive care unit at Renown Regional Medical Center.

Devin hasn’t been back to Hug since the shooting. He’s not sure he will ever go back.

Last week, when a teacher told the class the school was going on a code red lockdown, Devin was at first excited thinking he would get out of classwork.

Then he started getting messages on his phone about what happened.

“I just sat in the corner of my class crying,” he said. It wasn’t until police came into the room and searched every student that he told an officer Logan was his brother. Devin said his phone and belongings were taken.

He said Logan would not have hurt anyone but was protecting himself from upperclassmen who had threatened to rob and hurt the teenager.

“I just want lethal force to be the last resort,” Devin said.

The Reno Gazette-Journal has filed a public records request seeking information from the school district on what equipment school police officers carry. The district has not replied yet.

Devin said his brother was wrong to bring two knives to school but didn’t deserve to be shot.

“I just don’t think a kid should be shot for their emotions or defending themselves,” he said.

The family’s attorney, David Houston, said Logan had reported to school officials he was being bullied and was defending himself from being hurt by older students. Houston said Logan was punched and was bleeding from the mouth.

"I don't know why the first response is to try and shoot a kid without trying some other sort of intervention," Houston said last week.

The petition was started by Demick LaFlamme, whose son D.J. is friends with Logan.

LaFlamme said he has lost friends over his support for Logan.

“Friends come and go, but when something bad happens, you have to do something so it doesn’t happen again," LaFlamme said.

By Tuesday afternoon, Devin, LaFlamme and family friends walking door to door had a few dozen signatures and more than 500 on change.org, an online petition site.

Devin said the plan is to get as many signatures as possible and to bring the petition to school officials Wednesday afternoon.

LaFlamme said a peaceful march is planned at Pat Baker Park at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

“This is a good kid, with a heart of gold,” LaFlamme said.

“I can’t just be angry. I have to do this for my brother” Devin said. “He deserves a life. Everybody deserves a life.”

Update: Organizers of the petition said a march will be organized from Pat Baker park to the Washoe County School District offices.