Before demolition, the campus had been infamous for its gang activity, particularly when graduating senior Willie James Jones Jr. was gunned down in 1994, just days before he was to matriculate to the prestigious Cornell University, hitting headlines and sparking outrage all over the San Diego media. The school also had been criticized for being behind academically, and there remained some skepticism in the community about Lincoln's reopening over those criticisms. Soon after Jones's death, Pastor Roy Dixon was told by the principal that "kids entered Lincoln with extremely low reading levels and could not perform academically."