Braddock shooting that killed 2 high school seniors ignites calls for change
BRADDOCK, Pa. (KDKA) — Leaders in Braddock are calling for the violence to stop after two Woodland Hills High School students were killed in a shooting over the weekend.
The mission of the Greater Valley Coalition Against Violence aims to reduce gun violence in the Mon Valley. At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Greater Valley Coalition Against Violence remembered Nazir Parker and Rimel Williamson, both 17 years old.
"I want to say their names: Rimel Williamson and Nazir Parker," said Lee Davis of the Greater Valley Coalition Against Violence. "Let us not forget their names. We are never going to forget what they meant to us."
A violence preventer talked about how they are reaching students.
"Today, our team was in and out of classrooms," said Godfrey McCray of Curve Violence. "We turned into talking spaces, mediation spaces, doing a lot of gathering facts or stories about how they are feeling."
Police said the deadly shooting happened Sunday at around 11 p.m. Officers found Williamson and Parker dead at Margaretta and Center streets in Braddock.
Police said they found a third victim with gunshot wounds to the chest. He was taken to a hospital in critical but stable condition.
Braddock's mayor and others are calling for the violence to stop.
"This is heartbreaking," Mayor Delia Lennon-Winstead said. "My prayers and love goes out to the family."
"It starts at home," she added. "More love and talking, and like they said, listening to them, noticing the change."
Davis is one of many leaders doing everything they can to connect to young people.
"Get some of these kids and young adults into various programs," Davis said. "We put them on a path, whether it's to getting employment, training, whatever it may be. We've come up with something."
At this point, there have been no arrests in the shooting. Allegheny County police said anyone with information is asked to call its tip line.