BATON ROUGE —Families, alumni and students of The Episcopal School of Baton Rouge on Thursday gathered for a prayer service to grieve the victims of the Bourbon Street attack that left 14 dead.Two of the victims were from the school: Class of 2024 Episcopal alumnus Kareem Badawi died and alumnus Parker Vidrine is in the hospital. Episcopal Coach Travis Bourgeois, who coached Badawi in football and Vidrine in baseball, said the school was shaken by the tragedy. "It's such a tragic event that nobody is ever prepared for, you know? It's just shocking,” Bourgeois said Bourgeois said he saw Badawi just months ago when the graduate visited for the homecoming game. "It was recent, the guys were in the same friend group, so they hang around together,” Bourgeois said. “Just guys you see every day, and you expect to see them the next day."Bourgeois said Badawi was a role model at the school. "He always had a smile on his face, he would get knocked down at a football game and he would still have a smile on his face. I think that was something that was good for our young kids to see,” Bourgeois said.Bourgeois said he never had to worry about Badawi because he was always doing the right thing even when nobody was watching. "For him to be at the wrong place at the wrong time? You know, that's something that Kareem was never. He was always at the right place at the right time. It's very unfortunate that he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It's tragic," Bourgeois said. "A coach should not outlive his players.Bourgeois said the school is praying for the families of Badawi and Vidrine. "Parker's fighting every day and our prayers are with him and his family,” Bourgeois said.Bourgeois said Episcopal is a small school, the kind where everybody knows everybody. "Kareem might have been here for a couple years in middle school, Parker's been here forever, in fact, Parker's mom teaches and is an administrator here on campus,” Bourgeois said. "[Kareem’s] sister graduated from here. Kareem's brother graduated from here."Bourgeois said he has questions that he is not sure will ever be answered."Why is the question? Why did this happen? Why does it happen to innocent people that have the rest of their life? That's the question everybody is asking. Why? Why is there hate out there?”Badawi's family put out a statement describing Kareem as an outstanding person who was incredibly smart and dedicated to his studies as he majored in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alabama."But what truly set Kareem apart was his kindness," the Badawi family said. "He was sweet, loving and caring, always there for his family and friends. Kareem's smile and humor truly lit up every room. With his bright future ahead of him, Kareem was destined for great things, and he’ll be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him.”Permalink| Comments