INDIANAPOLIS — Hundreds of Hoosiers gathered for the Stand On Peace Walk Friday afternoon to raise awareness for National Youth Violence Prevention Week.
The rain didn’t stop folks from marching around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park.
The Peace Walk is an initiative aimed at promoting unity and nonviolence.
Deputy Director of Violence Reduction for the Office of Public Health and Safety Tony Lopez says losing just one person to gun violence is too many.
“We’re gonna have our arguments. We’re gonna have our fights but to resolve those in a peaceful manner, conflict resolution, talking about it vs fighting or shooting each other, is important because we wanna keep our community whole," Lopez said.
Gun violence is top of mind for Holden Pasley.
The 17-year-old is the president of his high school’s Students Demand Action Club.
“I’m always having a tiny bit of fear no matter what is going on. In the event that when I go to school, there’s a slight chance that I might not be able to come home," Pasley said.
Senior Gift Akintomide is also concerned.
“We see the problem and we just don’t deal with it. Having youth know and understand that it’s something that they could face and people have faced it in the Indianapolis community that are our age," Akintomide said.
WRTV spoke with IMPD North District Commander Matthew Thomas about these tragedies.
“We’re continuing to make progress but youth violence remains a top concern. We know we can do better," Commander Thomas said.
He says there’s a number of community partners parents can turn to.
“You can start with Indy Peace, through the Office of Public Health and Safety, there’s mentoring, there’s programs and we can absolutely direct you. If you can’t find a resource, walk into your local police district and ask some questions and say we need help," he said.
