INDIANAPOLIS —A two-year-old is expected to be OK after being shot in the wrist at his home off of Michigan Street and Sherman Drive on Tuesday morning. However, a 17-year-old, who was shot just a few blocks from the infant, was critically injured after a violent Tuesday morning on the east side of Indianapolis.
Neighbors say they are tired of the violence.
Having a nine-year-old herself, Kelly Saldivar, who lives nearby, says, "I hope and pray that it's never him. I hope and pray it's never any child."
But there are efforts to help catch kids before they fall.
"We come from the struggle, we bred by the struggle, this is out of necessity," Shane Shepherd, founder of 'B4U Fall,' said.
Shepherd says B4U Fall helps people struggling in the community, especially kids.
"These young black kids, they grow up in war-torn areas, where they go to funeral after funeral after funeral with no help," Shepherd said.
Shepherd teaches kids in an after school program from all across the city.
"I got them from 42nd Post Road," he said. "They've got assigned seats, so I know where are you from."
The violence they see spill out on to the streets, or in this case, even at home, stems from other problems.
"It's in every neighborhood in Indianapolis. Police can't do nothing about it; the detectives can do nothing about it," Shepherd said. "Poverty, lack of jobs, under education, lack of care, and then hopelessness."
This program gives kids the support, community, and skills to take charge of their own lives — before they fall.
