DORCHESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Wednesday night, community members gathered in Roxbury for a meeting to address the weeks of gun violence citywide.
Wednesdays was the second of three meetings led by the faith and community leaders of the New Democracy Coalition, their goal to create a public safety plan following the string of recent violence in the Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan communities.
“So we’re going to come up with solutions, to this gun violence,” Dr. Charles Mentos, one of the residents who wants to work to stop the violence, said. “It is senseless violence that needs to stop.”
“We can’t ask people to do something first that we don’t understand for ourselves. We wanna hear what people have to say,” Antonia Edwards, another resident said. “How do we, protect ourselves, and our most vulnerable with the youth, children, and also the elderly?”
City officials and politicians are not allowed to attend, giving people the chance to speak freely, voicing their concerns and ideas.
“I’m looking for solutions” Jaylynn Conway, another resident, said. “But I’m also looking for people’s open minded thoughts on what they do to stop this.”
In Dorchester, loved ones of the man who was shot and killed Wednesday gathered in tears as police continued to investigate.
The first community meeting was held in last week in Dorchester, then Roxbury, and the next meeting will be in Mattapan. The coalition hopes to bring ideas together and come up with a safety plan they can then take to city leaders.
Police ask anyone with information on Wednesday’s shooting death to contact their Crimestoppers line at (800) 494-8477
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