Beckett v. School Board of the City of Norfolk. The Norfolk School Board announced its intention to enroll 17 black students in previously white schools for the 1958-59 academic year. Although all the board members "honestly and sincerely" believed that integration was not in the best interest of the black school children, white school children, or the general public, the board was willing to comply with the court's interpretation of the law. Applications by students who failed to take the entrance test or attend the personal interviews were denied. Had the board refused to place those students who submitted successful applications, they could have faced contempt charges from Federal Judge Walter Hoffman.

Arlington County School Board Chairman Robert A. Peck discussed the possibility of schools being integrated in January in accordance with Federal District Judge Albert V. Bryan's decision. Judge Bryan had delayed the admission of four black students to previously all white schools until January. Peck asserted that the Board members would have to assess the situation within Virginia and the country in the following months before determining the correct course for Arlington's schools in January, also suggesting that the Judge's ruling might open new avenues.

No spoken word. While the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals was deciding whether to grant Norfolk schools a year's stay in school integration, the Tidewater Educational Foundation attempted to register as many white students as possible for private classes in case Norfolk's 6 junior and senior high schools were closed. This clip also contains footage of an orderly demonstration at Norview High School in Norfolk, where white students demanded their school be opened.

In a press conference, Governor Almond asked Virginians to have patience as the state government worked on plans to reopen schools across the state. Almond asserted that the conditions surrounding the school closings had been "thrust upon them by the NAACP armed with ruthless power by the federal courts."

No spoken word. H.T. Delany, a retired black judge from New York, spoke to the Roanoke Development Association, telling the audience that blacks were not moving fast enough toward integration. The independent candidate for the U.S. Senate, Dr. Lousie Wensel, also spoke to the organization. She derided Senator Harry Byrd for keeping Virginia small in every way. At the meeting, members of the Association voted not to trade with two Roanoke businesses because they refused to hire blacks. (Roanoke World News, September 29, 1958)

No spoken word. File footage of black school children standing outside Warren County High School in Front Royal.

No spoken word. Blurry file footage of Superintendent of Warren County schools Q.D. Gasque as he addressed the integration situation at Warren County High School in Front Royal where 22 blacks joined about 290 white students. Newsman were allowed to photograph the black students only through the bus windows and no newsman or photographers were allowed further than the foot of the hill to the school. Curiosity-seekers and spectators formed at each end of the street by the school but barricades had been set up to keep them from reaching the school property. No incidents occurred within the school and none had been expected but some students seemed to feel if they did not like the integrated school they could quit and enter a private high school. Gasque told WSLS news that a strict watch would be kept for the next few days to be certain no one got in the school to cause trouble. (From the web site)

Virginia State Senator Bart (or Earl??) Fitzpatrick praised Governor Lindsey's school plan. Based on the Perrow Commission's proposals that attempted to comply with federal expectations of integration, the plan received a mixed reaction from legislators. Although many criticized the bill as being too conciliatory, Fitzpatrick viewed it as the "best that can be offered at this time." Not straying from his segregationist constituency, he also opined that "I don't think that anyone is in favor of any integration," but that this plan was essential to preserving public schools in Virginia.

Governor Lindsey Almond addressed the people of Virginia in Richmond after the State Supreme Court ruled against massive resistance laws. Almond launched one of his staunchest attacks on school integration in the speech. In this clip, Almond drew on Cold War rhetoric to amplify the danger desegregation posed. Clip continued on 2_04.

Continued from clip 2_03. Responding to a State Supreme Court decision that outlawed massive resistance, Governor Almond was determined to maintain segregated schools. In a virulent attack on integration and judicial interference, Almond asked the people of Virginia for support in the struggle while he supposedly advanced the welfare of their children. Promising that the people, not judges, would decide about segregation, Almond bellowed his famous call to arms: "with determination more relentless than ever before-we have just begun to fight."

SPEAKER?? responded to the Virginia State Supreme Court's decision that struck down massive resistance laws. He expressed confusion over what the verdict would mean for the schools and admitted "we really don't know what to do yet." He guessed they would have to refer the decision to "some state board or some state level."

No spoken word. File footage of black students as they arrived, protected by police, at Stratford Junior High School in Arlington. The four students were among the first to integrate schools in Virginia. (Washington Post, February 2, 1959)

In Charlottesville, WSLS reporter asked Linda, a white Lane High School student, about the "rightness or the wrongness" of integration. Although Linda was not completely comfortable with integration, she said she would rather attend an integrated school in her own town than travel to a segregated school. Charlottesville's schools were closed while the School Board revised its plan for integration so Linda was forced to travel 25 miles to a makeshift school established for whites.

In an interview with a WSLS reporter, Albert Rolston, Chairman of the Committee for Public Education, asserted he would do his best to assure that the public school system would remain part of Virginia's constitution. With the recent court order for integration, Rolston expressed his hope that the bitterness surrounding the failure of massive resistance in Charlottesville would abate so the citizens could move toward better understanding and cooperation.

No spoken word. Footage of three elementary school children on the first day of integrated classed at Ramsey Elementary School in Alexandria, VA. Police maintained a barricade near the school to keep reporters and others away from the students. (New York Times, February 11, 1959)

Warren County High School in Front Royal was the first school in Virginia closed by Governor Almond when forced with integration in the fall of 1958. A WSLS reporter interviewed parents and students below Warren County High School as 22 black students entered on February 18, 1959. One mother stated her intention to keep her son enrolled in the all-white private school that was created as an alternative to forced integration. She thought her son was showing more interest and doing better in the private school. A senior enrolled in the private school said, despite his wishes, there was no official boycott by whites of the integrated Warren County High School, but he did not expect more than 15 whites to show up for classes that day.

Footage of 22 black students as they entered Warren County High School for the first time on February 18, 1959. There was a small gathering of media and parents assembled outside the school, watching the children as they entered. In the only audible portion of the clip, a black female student refused to answer any questions until after 4 o'clock.

No spoken word. Footage of Warren County Superintendent Q.D. Gasque.

A WSLS reporter interviewed two white students from a group of whites assembled outside Norwalk's Norview High School. The school had recently been reopened on an integrated basis. The reporter revealed his bias for segregation when the younger student prognosticated that intermarriage would occur in the coming generations. "Well that's not a problem we have today," the reporter quipped. Suggesting how ingrained the separation of the races was in the youth, a senior could not find words when asked to express why he opposed segregation. "I don't know," he replied, "I just don't like it."

The first portion of this clip has no spoken word. It shows some of the black students who registered for classes at Warren County High School. The remaining footage shows WSLS reporter Joe Moffatt (name from the web site)interviewing Mr. Bowen, a white native of Warren County. Mr. Bowen's two children were not attending the newly integrated schools. When Warren County High School was closed in the fall of 1958, his children were sent to Rappahannock and they refused to move to an integrated school. Mr. Bowen disapproved of his children's decision. Going against the crowd of whites gathered below the school, Mr. Bowen tacitly supported integrated education when he asked, "They've got to live with the Colored for the rest of their lives, haven't they? Why shouldn't they live with them in school?"

A WSLS reporter interviewed Delores Johnson, a 16-year-old junior, in front of a crowd of white students as she prepared to enter Norfolk's Norview High School. The school had been closed since the previous September when the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied an appeal to give Norfolk's schools a year's stay in integration. Johnson did not expect the schools delayed opening to affect her chances to go to college and become a pediatrician. She avoided provoking any negative response from the white crowd by declining to answer what the integrated schools meant to the larger society.

No spoken word. Footage of the LeMarco Company in Roanoke. THE DRESS MAKING COMPANY WAS FOUNDED BY A BLACK DEVELOPMENT GROUP AND WAS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT FOR 65 LOCAL BLACKS. (FOUND ON WEB SITE-- NEED TO CONFIRM AND CITE NEWSPAPER).

Responding to Governor Almond's speech in support of the Perrow Commission's findings, Delegate Frank Moncure of Stafford County viewed the stance on integration was tantamount to surrender. Moncure insisted that the people of Virginia should be given the opportunity to vote on Article 9 and section 173, so they could decide what is best for the state. Appealing to his constituents, Moncure derided the state government's attempt to force even token integration, and claimed "I'm not going to let the Perrow Commission or the governor or anybody else tell me to betray the people back home."

Delegate Sam Pope of Southampton responded to the massive resistance capitulation speech made by Governor Almond in support of the Perrow Commission proposals. Pope expressed support for some aspects of the plan but cited potential pitfalls as well. Unlike the Perrow proposal, Pope supported the repeal of Section 129 of the Virginia State Constitution which required the General Assembly to operate and finance a public school system. Pope also disagreed with the pupil assignment plan, saying he would "not subscribe to any pupil placement plan operated by local officials." Overall, Pope's stance was a moderate reaction to Almond's support for the proposals made by the Perrow Commission.

Delegate Charles Green of Bedford claimed that he could support some of the Perrow Commission proposals until the Assembly was able to construct a more effective plan that would reflect the thoughts of Bedford County and result in purely segregated schools. He was convinced that due to the court system, the legislature was powerless to maintain segregated schools at this juncture, and suggested that "[t]he only way we can have massive resistance is for the masses to resist." Date ascertained by web site information.

No spoken word. Footage of Governor Almond entering the General Assembly before giving his speech on the Perrow Commission's proposals.

Governor Almond defended his support for the Perrow Commission as the best possible course for the future of Virginia in front of a joint General Assembly in Richmond. He admitted the futility of a state legislature to enact any law when faced with "overwhelming federal force," and he specifically singled out the inability to overturn decisions by the federal judiciary system. Despite the glaring difference between his virulent speeches in support of massive resistance, Almond maintained that "in design, purpose, and content, it bears no resemblance to surrender." This almost definitely footage from his April 6th speech shown on April 7th. Date ascertained from log note. Check with transcript of April 6th speech.

Continued from clip 2_25: Governor Almond addressed a joint General Assembly and supported the Perrow Commission proposals. Almond claimed that massive resistance was not a formulation of "fruitless laws in contravention of federal power," but rather rested within the individual citizen. And that "the right to associate carries with it the right not to associate."

Continued from clips 2_25 through 2_27. Contradicting the notion that the Perrow Commission proposal was giving up on massive resistance, Governor Almond asserted that the plan was a logical step in the determined continuation of the struggle for segregated schools. The plan remained within the framework of the law and was an honorable defense of "our rights." Protecting himself from appearing weak and to insulate himself from political attack, Almond reminded steadfast massive resistance supporters that the state had no right to exercise police power to reverse or negate a federal decree: "A state cannot interpose its authority or power between the federal government and the object of a federal law or decree."

No spoken word. File footage of a segregationist's rally at the state capitol. As the Virginia General Assembly met in Richmond to try to shape an acceptable school program that followed state and national court decisions, a group of extreme segregationists calling itself the "Bill of Rights Crusade" demanded that the assembly buck the authority of the Federal Government and return to massive resistance. Demonstrators called on the legislators to take leadership in the fight for segregation away from Governor J. Lindsay Almond, who recently admitted he was powerless to prevent integration in public schools. About five thousand people in Richmond's Capitol Square backed the demands of the Crusade group, whose leaders had asked a hundred thousand people to attend. They called for Governor Almond to speak, but he refused. (Washington Post, April 1, 1959)

NAACP attorney Reuben Lawson of Roanoke expressed his hope that counties in Southwest Virginia would integrate without legal action but confirmed his intention to file suit on behalf of 12 black students attempting to integrate an unnamed county's schools. Many suspected Lawson's remarks were aimed at Pulaski County, but he refused to comment on which county his clients were focused on. He said members of the NAACP legal staff are awaiting action on a long-range school program by the special session of the General Assembly before taking their next step.

NAACP attorney Reuben Lawson who was fighting to integrate Floyd County's school system said he believed that similar suits would be brought against other counties in Southwest Virginia. He would not specify which counties they would be.

Franklin County Delegate Joseph Poff of Floyd County was interviewed on the prospect of integration among two county schools. Despite the presence of "a few people" who were "bitter against integration," Poff did not foresee any difficulties emerging if the schools were integrated, partly because of the quality of the black population in the county. (date found on web site)

A WSLS reporter asked a Floyd County teacher and a student how they felt about the possibility of integration. Katharine Dobyns, a seventeen-year teaching veteran, thought residents would act in the best interests of the county, and that she would continue to teach if that meant integrated schools. 18-year-old senior Charles Truman proffered a more pessimistic outlook; "I don't think it's gonna work." (Date found on web site)

Franklin County Delegate Joseph Poff was not surprised by an announcement the previous day by attorney Reuben Lawson of Roanoke concerning the application of fourteen black students to Check and Floyd County High Schools. Poff knew the county was "vulnerable" to such applications because it did not have an accredited institution.

In an interview with a WSLS reporter, Franklin County Delegate Joseph Poff claimed he did not think that integration would precipitate the creation of whites only private schools because there simply were not enough residents of Floyd County who would wish to send their children to private schools. Although Poff did not know of any specific plans, he anticipated some desegregation in counties that did not have accredited high schools.

In a speech to the Virginia legislature, Governor Almond implored that no assignment plan instituted by Virginia could exclude a black student from a public school based solely on race. Doing so would empower the NAACP to control the "degree and the tempo" of integration in schools. Despite his apparent departure from massive resistance, Almond was determine to control the integration process in Virginia and was loath to provide the judicial system or the federal government any opportunity to dictate policy.

No spoken word. File footage of schools in Warren County, including an integrated bus. This is duplicate coverage from tape 1.

No spoken word. Date ascertained by web site. Need to identify people. Judge is most likely Thompson, not Grayson.

No spoken word. Footage of blacks from Floyd and Grayson county being led to the door of the US Western District Court in Roanoke by Oliver Hill, chief counsel for the NAACP in Virginia, and led into the court by their attorney Reuben Lawson of Roanoke. The entrance proceeded an evidentiary hearing by Federal Judge Roby Thompson concerning the desegregation of schools in Floyd county. In addition there was footage of Attorney General Albertis Harrison and two unidentified white men as they entered the court. (information from the web site. I believe the footage aired on the morning of the ninth, but was shot on the afternoon of the eighth.)

No spoken word. Continuation of clip 3_19. Footage of Attorney General Albertis Harrison and NAACP attorneys Oliver HIll and Reuben Lawson as they prepared to enter court.

No spoken word. Footage of Warren County High School students arriving at school under police protection. Several passive onlookers stand behind barricades at the foot of the hill below the school.

No spoken word. Footage of Warren County High School students in the fall of 1960.

No spoken word. Footage of 22 black students as they prepare to register at Warren County High School in Front Royal.

Delegate Henry Howell of Norfolk described federal legislation that would grant state legislators immunity from appearing in federal court cases while the state house is in session. Howell claimed this would prevent state legislators from serving "two masters."

No spoken word. File footage of Oliver Hill speaking at a NAACP meeting in Lynchburg at the Court Street Baptist Church. Before a crowd of about 1,800, Hill and Rev. Virgil Wood endorsed boycotting and picketing local stores that did not offer integrated service. (Richmond Times Dispatch, March 21, 1960)

No spoken word. File footage of NAACP attorney Reuben Pulaski filing an integration suit in Roanoke's Federal District Court. The suit filed on behalf of 18 black children attempting to integrate the all-white Pulaski High School named Superintendent Frank J. Critzer and the State Pupil Placement Board as defendants. (The Washington Post, March 25, 1960)

School Superintendent E.W. Rushton expressed his gratitude and appreciation at a press conference to the news media, city officials, teachers, and principals for their "splendid cooperation" as Roanoke integrated its schools. The clip also contains footage of young black students arriving at school.

No spoken word. Footage of vice-president Richard M. Nixon and his wife as they arrived in Roanoke. He shook hands and conversed with several supporters before getting in a car.

While on a campaign tour, vice president Richard Nixon spoke to a large crowd in Richmond's Capital Square on October 3. Nixon derided the Democratic Party's platform as more costly than the Republican plan in both money and potential freedoms. He urged the audience to compare the Truman and Eisenhower administrations so they would see the difference between Republicans and Democrats: "They talk a good game but we do a good game." Nixon specifically mentioned the Republican record on building schools and hospitals, and raising real wages. According to the web site, the footage was from October 3 but aired on October 4.

No spoken word. File footage of city projects.

No spoken word. Footage of Baptist Minister Marshall L. Shepard addressing a Democratic rally at the Star Hill Auditorium. Attending the rally were Roanoke Mayor Willis M. Anderson, State Senator William H. Hopkins, Delegate Julian Rutherford and Kossen Gregory and State Senator William B. Spong of Portsmouth.

Senator Lyndon B. Johnson spoke in Lynchburg as part of his whistle-stop tour through the Old Dominion. Speaking at the Kemper Street station (got location from the web-site), Johnson declared that his ticket would protect the constitutional rights of every American, "regardless of his race, his religion, or the region from which he may come."

No spoken word. Five Freedom Riders, three white men and two black men, prepared to leave Roanoke on their way to Chattanooga, Tennessee. (New York Times, July 15, 1961) WSLS identified one of the men as Herman Stern, a Jewish rabbi from New Jersey. According to WSLS, the Freedom Riders claimed they were, "testing both segregated and desegregated waiting rooms and lunch counter facilities on their bus ride south."

No spoken word. U.S. District Judge Thomas Michie deferred ruling on motions in the Lynchburg omnibus desegregation suit until after completion of the school case in Lynchburg.

No spoken word. File footage of Reuben Lawson speaking at an NAACP meeting.

Governor Albertis Harrison announced the formation of the Prince Edward Free School Association. The non-profit, privately funded group was intended to establish and operate a system of three schools for Prince Edward County that would be open to both black and white students. The Prince Edward County School Board agreed to provide the necessary resources, such as buses, for one year or less while the funding was to come from private associations and citizens. (Date from New York Times, August 15, 1963)

Governor Harrison announced the six trustees of the Prince Edward Free School Board. Included among the bi-racial board was Colgate Darden, former Governor of Virginia and former president of the University of Virginia; Fred B. Cole, president of Washington and Lee University; Dr. Robert B. Daniel, president of Virginia State College; Dr. Thomas Henderson, president of Virginia Union University; Dr. Earl H. McClenney, president of St. Paul's College; and F.D.G. Ribble, retired Dean of the University of Virginia Law School.

Continued from clip 3_05. Footage of registration conducted by Prince Edward County Free School Association.

No spoken word for a majority of clip and then simultaneous conversations. Footage of registration conducted by Prince Edward County Free School Association. Date from newspaper article (New York Times, August 20, 1963).

No spoken word. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS MEETING IS!!

No sound for the first 36 seconds. Interview with unidentified fire fighter. I think this is part of a dispute following the firing of W.M. Mattox, head of the Roanoke Fire Fighters Association, by Fire Chief Sydney Vaughan. Vaughan cited "insubordination, slander, and public displaying of his disrespect for his superior officer while on duty" as his reasoning. Mattox had called for a referendum on a 56 hour work week for fire fighters instead of a 73 hour week. (Washington Post, October 18, 1963)

No spoken word. W.D. Muse, secretary of the Supreme Loan Company of Martinsville, spoke to black leaders in Roanoke at the Magic City Building and Loan Company. He promoted thrift and savings in the immediate community to stimulate business in the area. By improving the thrift habits of individuals in an underprivileged neighborhood, more funds would become available for loans to small businesses, which would lead to more job opportunities - which in turn would result in better living conditions and better housing for the inhabitants of the community, Muse said. (info from web site-- could not find article in Pro-Quest, RTD, or RWN)

State Senator William B. Hopkins spoke in support of the sales tax but claimed Virginia had not gone far enough in tax reform.

No spoken word. File footage of Roanoke County School Superintendent Arnold Burton. Burton outlined the school board's plan for integration of schools in Roanoke County that would take effect in September 1966. It proposed the division of the county into geographical districts with children to be assigned within their district. Three all-black schools would be totally abandoned, and the students would be re-assigned to formerly all-white schools in their district. Burton's plan called for the black faculty t be absorbed by the integrated schools. Claiming the integration was forced, Burton maintained that, "We are trying to set up district lines the court will approve." (Roanoke World News, March 8, 1966)

Some 350 educators met at Hotel Roanoke to discuss how to make education "more palatable and more lasting" for children K-12. School supervisors heard Ben M. Harris, associate professor and supervision program director of the University of Texas, explain how the use of visual aides helped children retain information. Dr. Francis Lankford of the University of Virginia moderated a panel in the afternoon. John M. Pompem, managing editor of the Chattanoogan Times, was to lecture that Wednesday on "Education for the Changing Decades Ahead."

James J. Kilpatrick, conservative editor of the Richmond News Leader and fervent segregationist, was interviewed before a debate with Roy Wilkins at the Virginia Tech YMCA entitled Conflict in the Great Society. Kilpatrick discussed the illegitimacy and flaws of the 1965 Voting Rights Act which he deemed "completely unconstitutional." Specifically, Kilpatrick believed the Act had "trespassed upon the power of the state to fix qualifications for the franchise." He viewed the Voting Rights Act as inconsistent in its dealings with illiteracy and the vote. Kilpatrick's greatest concern, which he called "humiliating," mirrored Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black's dissent; each time a city wished to change the boundaries of a voting precinct, it had to get permission from Washington.

As part of a pre-debate interview at the Virginia Tech YMCA, the Executive Director of the NAACP Roy Wilkins spoke in response to James J. Kilpatrick's comments on the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Wilkins supported the requirement for city governments to petition Washington if they wanted to change voting precinct boundaries: "If they had been honest all along, there wouldn't have been any such requirement. But they haven't been." He dismissed Kilpatrick's denouncement of the inconsistencies related to literacy in North Carolina by pointing to the illiterate voting that occurs outside of that state and above the Mason Dixon line. Wilkins admitted that the formula must have "been difficult to arrive at" but pointed out how the framers faced the necessity of "finding some kind of formula that would stand the test of constitutionality."

The first half of the clip is footage of the annual meeting of the Ninth District of the Virginia Teachers Association at Carver High School in Salem. At the meeting, the President of the VTA, J. Shelby Guss told the group to keep their Association protection until they can find something better with which to replace it. Roanoke County School Superintendent Arnold Burton told the group the VTA is still very much alive. The second half of the clip is an interview with Ninth District President Mrs. R.T. Mitchell of Wytheville. Mitchell offered a positive account of school integration in Southwest Virginia, claiming that there has been no "token desegregation" in her district.

At the annual meeting of the Ninth District of the Virginia Teachers Association, President Mrs. R.T. Mitchell commented on the impact of integration on black teachers. Many black teachers in the Ninth District initially lost their jobs when the schools were integrated. Mitchell asserted the situation has "become better" but is "still not everything we would like."

No spoken word. File footage of an integrated easter egg hunt at Highland Park.

Rev. F.A. Alexander, publisher of the Roanoke Tribune and candidate for the upcoming Roanoke City Council election, reacted to the entrance of a second black candidate, A. Byron Smith. Alexander noted that Smith was respected and had a right to run for office, but also expressed concern. Leaders in the black community had held meetings and previously decided "to have one candidate and that we are going to put all of our efforts toward the election of that candidate." (Also see Roanoke World News, April 8, 1966)

Governor Mills E. Godwin expressed his support for a bipartisan Congressional delegation's attack on the desegregation guidelines set by the Department of Health Education and Welfare (HEW). Godwin referred to the plan as "unwarranted, unjustified, unneeded, unnecessary, [and] arbitrary" and suggested that a solution to school desegregation could not originate from the courts or from HEW, but must come from Congress instead.

No spoken word. Members of The Hollins Movement demonstrated outside the Times World Corporation in Roanoke. Nineteen blacks and six whites carried signs that protested The Roanoke Times and the Roanoke World News for its refusal to publish black weddings and engagements. Officials from the two newspapers had no comment. (Roanoke World News, May 5, 1967)

Roanoke attorney A. Linwood Holton spoke about the upcoming 1968 election. He expected Wallace's supporters would soon realize that the real choice in November would be between Nixon and Humphrey. He admonished them not to vote for Wallace because it would strengthen Humphrey's bid for the White House at Nixon's expense. Holton claimed that Nixon could win the important big city vote in Virginia with strong support from both whites and blacks, particularly in Richmond, the Tidewater area, and the suburbs of Washington.

Unidentified speaker from the Roanoke Democratic Party defined the organization's goals to raise awareness of politics in the valley and increasing participation in the Democratic party. Yet, the Democratic party was reluctant to accept the young coalition, started in fall 1968, because of the assumption that it as formed only to promote one man for Congress.

No spoken word. File footage after a confrontation on Main Street in downtown Salem. Witnesses claimed four or five boys argued with a black man outside an Advance store. One of the boys allegedly threw a cane at the man during the dispute and then fired several gunshots. 20-year-old Gary Russell Furrow was struck in the abdomen by one of the bullets and taken to the hospital. A Salem police officer arrived shortly after the incident and fired several shots at the group of boys as they drove away in a car.