Natasha Cloud said she would hold a media blackout if D.C. government officials did not reach out to her to discuss how they could address shootings at a Hendley Elementary School in Southeast.

Lori Shaull / Flickr

Washington Mystics player Natasha Cloud has organized a media blackout ahead of the team’s game against the Seattle Storm on Friday to draw attention to a spate of shootings at a D.C. elementary school in the last month.

Cloud uploaded a series of Instagram stories on Thursday after visiting Hendley Elementary School in Southeast, where she said staff told her a front window at the school had been hit by a bullet on Wednesday. Cloud said school staff told her it was the third bullet to hit the school in the last month (it was the second one in two weeks, WJLA reported).

She called for Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White and Mayor Muriel Bowser to announce a plan to deal with the shootings at Hendley, or she would use all her media time ahead of Friday’s WNBA finals rematch against the Storm to talk about the violence being experienced at the elementary school.

The Washington City Paper was the first to report on Cloud’s threat of a media blackout.

Students were in the school at the time of the shooting for an end-of-the-year movie screening, and some were standing in the room when the bullet hit the window, the Washington Post reports. D.C. police officers were actually hosting the movie night, and were also in the building at the time of the shooting. Cloud said the school had to cancel a field day on Thursday because of the incident.

“When you’re talking about changing a culture, when you’re talking about ending a cycle, when you’re talking about empowering our youth and giving them opportunities, it starts with their education. And our kids can’t even feel safe to go to school right now. What are we doing? We gotta do better for our youth,” she said in the Instagram videos. “The fact that three bullets have gone through … the fact that one bullet has gone through that school’s window, but three in the month of June and nothing is being done. I’m calling everyone’s asses out.”

She directly addressed White and Bowser in her stories, calling on them to contact her with “a solution and/or a sit down for a solution, because y’all have had a month now to figure this out.”

White, who is an alumni of the school, sent a statement to the Washington City Paper addressing Cloud’s comments and questions about his response to shootings at Hendley.

“I have been doing youth violence intervention and mentoring some of the highest risk youth in SE for 17 years. We have to go visit [m]others when they lose their children and be at the crimes scenes when someone is on the ground fighting for their life,” he wrote. “During these times I don’t see the people that tweet. When we have programs in the schools, like Ballou last week, I don’t see the people who just tweet. We are getting more teams and returning citizens to be in the community to address the neglect and social ills that influence violence. We had a big violence strategy meeting last night at the Arc and I didn’t see the people who just tweet. Years from now when they are on to the next hot topic in their lives Trayon White will still be here committed and serving. Don’t tweet join us!”

Cloud appeared less than pleased with that response, tweeting “I don’t just tweet. I act. So still haven’t heard a response from you.”

Shortly after, White responded: “I’m on my way to the hospital we just had a female shot on 6th Street. You can stay comfortable tweeting. God bless.”

The charged exchange continued.

White’s chief of staff, Wanda Lockridge, tells DCist that the councilmember has been in contact with Commander Andre Wright of the Metropolitan Police Department’s 7th District to discuss how they can prevent further shootings at or near Hendley. Wright says he has assigned two MPD vehicles to patrol around the school from the start to the end of the school day. There is also a meeting scheduled at Hendley on June 17 to discuss the shootings; Hendley says the councilmember will be in attendance.

At a press conference on Friday, Mayor Bowser said in response to news of the blackout that “the more people being outraged about access to guns and the careless use of our guns, the better.” When asked specifically if she would meet with Cloud, Bowser said she “meet[s] with people all the time.”

The Mystics recently moved into their new home at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Congress Heights, about two miles from Hendley Elementary.

Cloud told the City Paper that she reached out to Mystics Coach Mike Thibault about the media blackout and he supports her decision. She also told news outlets that she believed most, if not all, of the team would participate in the blackout. Cloud instituted a deadline of 9:45 a.m. this morning for government officials to reach out to her with a plan.

And at 9:45 a.m., the Washington Mystics tweeted out a statement in support of players’ decision to speak out against violence in Ward 8.

“We are proud that our players are invested in the community and are committed to helping us be a unifier in Ward 8,” it reads. “The events of the past month are very upsetting and we respect the right of our players to speak out in a manner that promotes positive dialogue.”

A spokesperson for the Mystics told DCist Friday afternoon that she believes the team is moving forward with the blackout.

This post has been updated with comment from the Washington Mystics and Mayor Muriel Bowser.

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