San Pedro nonprofit working to reduce gang violence after Peck Park shooting

Sunday's mass shooting at San Pedro's Peck Park hit home for local non-profits working on gang intervention. 

"We try to expose them to different things, outside of the four blocks in which they live," said prevention program manager David Jones Sr. 

Jones works with at-risk youth for the Toberman Neighborhood Center, a trusted source in the San Pedro area for more than a century. The nonprofit provides safe passage walking for children, youth programs, one-on-one case management, community giveaway. The Gang Prevention and Intervention Team, Jones' staff, works throughout San Pedro as problem solvers.

"If the team hears of something about to happen, they talk to people and try to resolve it before it gets to that level," said Jones. 

But when Jones' team got the call on Sunday about gunfire erupting at Peck Park, it was too late. 

"It broke my heart because two people lost their lives," he said. 

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, a dispute between two groups at a park's baseball diamond ended with eight gunshot victims, two of whom died at a hospital. Jones said that the shooting was the exact outcome they try so hard to prevent. 

One of the powerful tactics the team uses to de-escalate situations is a strategy called rumor control. 

"It's not something that they just make up," said Jones. "More that they take the story and twist it. So, there are three sides to a story — this side, the left side and the middle. We just try to make sure that the wrong information doesn't get out."

Incidents like what happened at Peck Park only strengthen the team's resolve to continue their work in the community. 

"We offer service to those families and victims that are involved," said Jones. "We try to give them the best of us as possible."