KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The deadly mass shooting that unfolded as the Chiefs rally was ending is another example of the impact gun violence has on our community.
Nine of the victims injured in the shooting were children.
The shooting came less than a month after Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas and Vice President Kamala Harris discussed ways to reduce gun violence.
They both agreed that many teens and young adults fall victim to the problem.
"I think so many older adults don’t really understand what our children, the children of our community have been going through," Harris said. “The young people of our country have lived through this, and they want a change."
One in five Americans have a family member who has died due to gun violence.
Our nation and our city leaders say it’s the young people who can help with solutions.
KSHB 41's Megan Abundis spoke with community members, including police leaders, teens and young adults working toward solutions and to address the problem.
Kansas City Chief of Police Stacey Graves
In 2023, Kansas City, Missouri, recorded it's deadliest year on record with 182 homicides.
Kansas City Chief of Police Stacey Graves said many of the victims were young.
“Out of 182 homicides, 19 of our victims were 17 years old or younger," Graves said in a January press conference addressing the deadly 2023.
Graves believes there's a generational problem of violence.
"When you look at parts of our city that have experienced decades of violence, you’ve got to see some of the children that have grown up in that environment have been exposed to trauma," Graves said. “There is a potential for children that are exposed to trauma to replay that out as they become adults too, even not learning those conflict resolution skills."
KCMO teen living in crime-filled neighborhood working to find solutions
Rihanna Shelby, 16, lives in the Oak Park Neighborhood in east Kansas City.
Her small neighborhood had 14 homicides, 174 aggravated assaults, and 150 cars stolen in 2023.
“It’s a lot that we could change out here," Shelby said.
She’s been a part of the "Enjoy Program," which empowers inner city youth. Shelby stays busy, working in her neighborhood to better it.
"We do gotta do better," Shelby said.
Despite the violence that surrounds her, she’s a leader in her neighborhood.
“It isn’t all on our parents; we’ve got to help do something too," she said. "It isn’t all up to them. We make our own decisions; we got to face the consequences. We got to do what we supposed to do, and they’ll do what they got to do."
Another KCMO teen working to find solutions
Giulian Williams is 15 years old.
“Honestly, I just thought of something to help the community, because there’s a lot of violence," Williams said.
He lost his brother to a homicide, and now wants to help teens find help before a conflict escalates into violence.
“Basically, I made a hotline, a conflict hotline, so you don’t have to call the police," he said. "If you hear something going on, you can call before it happens."
Williams hopes the dedicated line targeted toward teens can help be a immediate solution.
Toriano Porter, Williams' father, said his son's initiative had support from the KCMO City Council.
"I come from a background that was full of violence, and I’ve seen it," Porter said. “Who doesn’t want to be like their big brother, their big cousin, or their dad? So, if you have these negative influences around you as a child, you want to be cool, you want to be hip, you want to be tough, but there’s nothing cool or hip about killing people or committing acts of violence."
Porter believes teens and young adults need a different way to ask for help.
"This whole 'no snitching' thing is a big, big problem; it’s an issue. So if kids call 911 — that’s the police — they’ll feel like they are snitching," he said. "So if they can make an anonymous call to a youth violence prevention hotline, maybe they’ll save a life."
Porter and Williams know it's important to focus on undoing generational trauma and violence.
“After my son died, I didn’t know what I was going to do about it, so I decided to be a better father and a better man, but I didn’t do anything for the community as Giulian did," Porter said. "For him to take on this ownership and make a presentation hotline, I’m so proud."
Starting conversation inside classrooms
Changing the course of Kansas City’s future is the next generation of criminal justice students at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, led by Marijana Kotlaja, an assistant professor at the university's department of Criminal Justice and Criminology.
KSHB 41 sat in on one of her classes.
"Today, we’re going to be talking about homicide trends," Kotlaja said during a class. "Tell me the characteristics of those communities where crime clusters."
Her students are gaining a deep understanding of the issues our communities face.
"I hope more people will acknowledge how deep this actually runs, and it’s not just a surface-level prevention," said Charles Neville, a UMKC student. "You can’t just stop crime, you can’t just deter this systemic violence — you have to go back and actually resolve the problems."
These students want to be the difference makers when it comes to changing crime.
“I’ve always thought the best way to help people is through the justice system for me, because that’s somewhere where people truly get lost, is the justice system,” said Travon Bray-Howard, another student.
Bray-Howard said personal experiences helped fuel his drive to come up with solutions.
"Seeing the Kansas City police growing up and the challenges they had, and now looking at the steps we can take," he said.
Community organizers working with teens
Ossco Bolton works with teenagers living in the Oak Park Neighborhood and believes we need to uplift the young people in our community.
“Let’s make our children the center focus, and let them know how special they are, and I promise you will see the killings slow down, you will see this thing change," he said. "They don’t see themselves of value in our community, but we have to give them that value."
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