Councilman Returns To Scene Of Sweet 16 Party Mass Shooting In Bed-Stuy, Vows To Be Part Of Gun Violence Solution
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Days after a mass shooting left a 20-year-old dead, a city councilman representing Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn returned to the neighborhood with resources.
He wants gun violence to be deemed a public health issue, and its root causes finally addressed, CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas reported Wednesday.
A makeshift memorial lines the walkway to an Albany Avenue apartment building, honoring the life of the 20-year-old who was gunned down and six other teens who were injured in a flurry of bullets during a crowded Sweet 16 afterparty on Sunday night.
"After the shots stopped it was little kids shaking our doorknobs saying, 'Please, please, please let us in.' They were in the trash compactor and everything," one witness said.
MORE: Tracking Shootings In NYC
Police remain stationed in front of the building on Wednesday. Nearby, a flyer announced a $2,500 reward for information.
It was part of a seemingly never-ending routine as gun violence, especially in Brooklyn, remains on the rise.
"We've been running from shooting to shooting, from funeral to funeral and from press conference to press conference with no real results," Councilman Robert Cornegy Jr. said.
Cornegy returned to the block, this time with various community groups, sharing free resources like music, coding and internship programs, especially for teenagers.
The goal is to get to the root of the gun violence.
"There has been disinvestment. There has been a lack of actual political power. A lack of communal power," said Shadoe Tarver of the group Save Our Streets Bed-Stuy. "We're trying to retrieve that for ourselves. We'e trying to take that back and really activate it."
Some said it's a good gesture that's inconsistent and long overdue.
"Not one politician has come up with a preventative measure. There's not a roller skating rink, ice skating rink, movies, nothing for the children. So you turn them loose to the streets," said Umar Jordan of Granddad's Put 'Em Up Boxing Camp.
And the coronavirus pandemic has made it worse.
Often, law enforcement is expected to bear the burden alone, but it's called after the trigger is pulled and it's already too late.
Police believe multiple gunmen were involved in Sunday's shooting, and they're still on the run.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
