YOUNGSTOWN — Students at Valley Christian Schools on Southern Boulevard were greeted by caring adults, including community leaders, when they returned to school this week following the Saturday shooting death of student Amya Monserrat.

Amya was killed by the gunfire outside of Martha’s Boulevard Bar and Grille, also on Southern Boulevard, while she was attending a party, police said. Amya, 15, was a student and cheerleader at the school.

On Wednesday, the school’s social media carried a thank you to “everyone who came to our campus” on Tuesday in an “outpouring of love and support” from the community.

“We could not have met the many needs of our students without the assistance of grief counselors, area clergy, community leaders, representatives of the mayor’s office” and the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence who participated in events, the post states.

“I know our students felt safe, secure and loved just by seeing so many caring adults in the hallways and their classrooms. We saw, firsthand, how our community comes together in times of tragedy.”

It added that Tuesday “was just the beginning of the healing process for our school community. Because of the generous offering of time and talent from our community, we will be able to continue offering counseling services, as needed, to the students for the remainder of the school year.”

The post included Psalm 34:17-18: “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit,” adding: “We stand on this promise for Amya’s mom and family as they go through this time of grief and sorrow.”

It also stated that students have “already begun to discuss ways that they can address the problem of youth and gun violence that affects our community.”

And it stated that “Our prayer is that Amya’s death will be forever memorialized as the start of real change in our community.”

Youngstown police have urged anyone with information about the shooting to come forward with information.

“Someone saw or and or knows what happened. You may know them. They may be your brother. They may be your sister. They may be your friend, but that should not stop you from doing the right thing,” Capt. Jason Simon of the detective division said at a news conference.

Police said Amya was not the intended target of the gunfire. She was “hit by a stray bullet,” Simon said.

Lt. Mohammad Awad of the detective division said the shooting involved “two groups of people shooting at each other. We don’t know how many shooters were involved in each group, but there were two parties to this. And they weren’t alone.”

He said the incident that led to the gunfire did not involve a traditional sort of fistfight. “But there was some type of conflict that has been brewing over the course of a couple of weeks,” he said. The people who were shooting at each other were involved in the conflict, he said.

The parties “shot back and forth at that party, location, restaurant, whatever you want to call that, and about 10:36 p.m., they came back and began shooting at each other,” Awad said.