Following a string of violence in DC's Ward 8, about 200 community members and activists alike gathered Thursday night to look for possible solutions.
According to D.C. police, six homicides have been reported in the city's 7th District since Dec. 22, 2014 -- four more compared to the same time period a year ago.
Ward 8 encompasses half of the 7th District, which has remained volatile for days; 17-year-old Phillip Jones was shot and killed Jan. 14 after a basketball game between rivals Ballou and Anacostia high schools along Martin Luther King Avenue SE. Monday afternoon, 22-year-old Kevin Owens was shot and killed along 13th Street SE.
"It's just so hard," Owens' mother Patricia Owens said. "It's the worst feeling ever and I don't want no other parent to go through what I'm going through."
No arrests have been made in either shooting deaths, and several separate shootings have been reported since. At a vigil held a week after Jones' death, someone fired several shots near a crowd of dozens of teenagers.
Among the 200 individuals who met Thursday night were priests, seniors, police and activists, all banding together to put a stop to the violence.
"I'm mostly upset to see our young black men killing each other," ANC Commissioner Mary Cuthbert said.
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The crowd identified reasons for teen violence as lack of parenting, neighborhood conflicts, drugs and general hopelessness. Among many suggestions, neighbors recommended rec centers stay open later and the police presence increases.
"There has been too much neglect for too long," Ward 8 resident Harold Thomas said.
Anyone with information in the deaths of Jones or Owens is asked to call police at 202-727-9099.
