GPD, ASO close year of increased gun violence, including teens firing and being shot
Cindy SwirkoAlachua County was getting oh-so-close in December to ending a dismal 2021 in terms of gun violence on a high note without anyone else being shot.
Then, a downtown shooting occurred on Dec. 18.
On Monday night, a man was wounded at a Tower Road apartment complex. Sheriffֱs Capt. Kaley Behl said the wound was not life-threatening and added that others could have easily been shot.
And Tuesday night a man was shot at Point West Apartments on Southwest 34th Street,ֱGPD reported. He has been released from the hospital.
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The Tower Road shooting played out in a way common to gun violence this year: Groupsֱof people firing wildly.
ֱThere were a whole bunch of rounds fired and a whole bunch of people shooting. It was feet away from a playground,ֱ Behl said. ֱThis is the type of thing we really have to put a stop to.ֱ
The year canֱt end soon enough for law enforcement agencies that too often had to respond to gun violence.
So far this year the Gainesville Police Department has responded to 44 calls of people being shot by others, with six deaths. Such calls numbered 26 with seven deaths in 2020 and 21 with three deaths in 2019.
The Alachua County Sheriffֱs Office has had 19 shooting victims with six deaths so far this year compared to 20 shooting victims with five deaths last year and 12 victims with five deaths in 2019.
Teenagers were killed and wounded. Teenagers pulled the triggers in some cases. A young man shot and killed the mother of his baby. A 13-year-old girl was fatally shot.
Shootings occurred outside downtown Gainesville nightclubs, in convenience store parking lots, at a teenֱs birthday party at the American Legion Hall and in drive-bys on the streets.
Especially troubling to officials is the gunshots by teens, often members of feuding gangs from different neighborhoods.
'The unseen scars, the trauma...'
Meanwhile, the violence witnessed by teenagers will have a lasting impact that is not being addressed as it should, said Darry Lloyd, chief investigator for the Eighth Judicial Circuit State Attorneyֱs Office and a leader of the Black on Black Crime Task Force.
ֱThe unseen scars, the trauma in the kids who have witnessed it, thatֱs what we have to really address and we are not doing a very good job of that at all,ֱ Lloyd said. ֱAs we depart 2021, 2022 is starting at a different place for these young people. We have to heal from that.ֱ
Dozens of kids witnessed what authorities said was a shooting involving two rival groups of teens at a June 24 birthday party at the American Legion Hall. Killed was Christopher Scott, 13, and four other teens were injured. Arrests have been made.
A teenager was wounded in an early morning shooting downtown on Aug. 1, the night after a Stop the Violence rally curb shootings.
A 12-year-old boy was shot and wounded in Southwest Gainesville in July. An 18-year-girl was later charged in the shooting.
Maliyah Godwin, 13, was shot and killed at her Southwest Gainesville apartment complex. A 37-year-old man has been indicted for first-degree murder in connection with the case.
Gun violence is on the rise in the United States
Gun violence has increased nationwide this year and law enforcement agencies are trying to figure out why. Stress caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the easy availability of guns and cultural changes likely play a role.
ֱI donֱt think it is one thing, and thatֱs what complicates it. Itֱs a lot of different things,ֱ Behl said. ֱIt is sometimes hard to predict but we are working on it.ֱ
GPD this year is planning to launch a violence interruption program in which trained mediators will work in neighborhoods to identify potential trouble and bring rivals together to try to prevent shootings and other crimes.
"It is community driven," GPD Chief Tony Jones said. "They will be doing conflict mediation. They will also be working with some of the individuals who have a propensity for violence and actually get out and mobilize the community."
Other cities in the U.S. are trying the tactic.
Jacksonville began its Cure Violence program in 2019. Data from a Washington D.C. pilot program, Cure the Streets, indicates mixed results from the neighborhoods in which it operates.
Jones said he hopes the program will begin sometime in the spring.