“This has to stop. It’s getting worse and worse and worse.”
After a dozen shootings in a week, including two straight days of gun violence that left two people dead and sent six to the hospital, Roberta Williams echoes the thoughts of numerous South Philadelphia residents.
A public safety meeting was held Thursday night inside a school auditorium on 49th and Parrish streets to address the growing issue.
“We’re going to train how to be a block captain,” said State Representative Vanessa Lowery Brown. “We’re going to train how to have a successful town watch and walk your neighborhood, how to report crime.”
“Everybody can do more but we need information and cooperation from the public,” said Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.
Ramsey was on the scene of a shooting on the 1200 block of Bucknell Street on Tuesday. That’s where a brawl between high school girls escalated into gunfire, wounding four innocent bystanders, including a 2-year-old girl. Ramsey says police still don’t have a suspect in that incident.
“If you don’t care about a 2-year-old kid getting shot, I don’t know what to say,” said Ramsey. “Somebody knows something and they need to come forward so we can do our job.”
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“Years ago when I was my grandson’s age, we could sit outside anytime of night and not have to worry about who was going to break into your house or who was going to start some trouble with you,” said Keith Edwards. “It’s time for people to stop being scared.”
