By Nayaba Arinde
Editor-at-Large
Last week at City Hall, violence interrupters like East New York’s Man Up Inc. and Queens Life Camp welcomed June 2024 Gun Violence Awareness Month, as they renewed their pledge to fight gun violence and educate the youth away from disruptive life choices.
But, in Brooklyn, June’s first week saw shell casings on Dean Street, unintended pre-teen victims in a playground, and a 12-year-old charged with criminally-negligent homicide for allegedly fatally shooting his 15-year-old cousin by accident.

Wednesday, 5th June, was National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
Seventh-grade students asked the community to join them for their 8th Annual Launch Charter School Walk-Out to End Gun Violence, as they marched from their Dean Street location in Crown Heights to Restoration Plaza in Bed Stuy.

They stated that “Together with @launchcharter, we’re stepping up once again this year to confront gun violence and its enduring impact on our community and students.
Our community came together in a heartfelt demonstration of solidarity and we’re uniting once more to take a powerful stand together against this devastating epidemic in light of #GunViolenceAwarenessMonth”

Launch Charter partners with Neighbors In Action /Save Our Streets Brooklyn.
“To finally end gun violence in our communities, we need to invest in our kids and give them the support they need to thrive,” Anthony Rowe, Project Director of Neighbors In Action, told Our Time Press. “That’s why we’re out on the streets today and every day, creating spaces to heal and connecting young people with the opportunities they deserve.”

On Sunday, June 2, a 12-year-old boy, reportedly playing with his firefighter dad’s weapon, shot and killed his 14-year-old cousin Josai Guy in Howard Houses in Brownsville. Police have charged the teen with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and criminal possession of a weapon.

Then, 11 and 9-year-old cousins were shot in Hilltop Playground on Dean Street, Ocean Hill. Just around 9 pm on Monday, June 3, shots were fired at the intersection of Thomas Boyland Street and Dean Street. The NYPD told Our Time Press that a “Preliminary investigation determined a 9-year-old female sustained a gunshot wound to the leg and an 11-year-old female sustained a gunshot wound to the torso,” both girls are in stable condition.

Reportedly, the gunman shot indiscriminately, and no arrests had been made.
Police said the neighborhood has seen a major increase in shootings this year. The NYPD said that the 73rd Precinct had just four murders by this time in 2023, compared to 12 murders already through May 26th, 2024. Published NYPD stats said that in this time period, in 2024, there were 23 shootings with 27 victims, compared to 14 shootings with 15 victims in 2023.

“Statistics show a reduction in gun violence in the 56th Assembly District, thanks to the coordinated efforts of violence interrupters, youth development agencies, law enforcement, and mental health professionals,” Assemblywoman Zinerman told Our Time Press. “However, even one life lost to gun violence is one too many.

The recent murders of 13-year-old Troy Gills and 24-year-old Brandon Dubois remind us of the urgent need to continue passing common-sense gun laws to ensure the safety of all residents.

To address this, I have introduced three bills in the New York State Assembly. The first bill would provide signage to establish gun-free zones and promote peace in our community. The second bill would increase pay for violence interrupters, ensuring they are adequately compensated for the risks they take and helping us recruit and retain more credible messengers to save lives.

The third bill mandates that multiple organizations funded to address gun violence in the district work together to create a comprehensive district-wide safety program. This program would ensure no neighborhood is left without services, providing coverage beyond their designated areas.”

“Violence in our community stems from our daily nightmares of the merry-go-round of racism and discrimination in our housing, employment, and livelihood,” elder activist Walter Beach told Our Time Press. The former footballer and CEO of Amer-I-Can of New York added, “This fosters a sense of shame, self-hate, self-loathing, which has serious consequences. Primary among the consequences is the cycle of violence we find ourselves in. ‘You kill my dog, I’ll kill your cat.’

Any violence directed toward any member of our race or community means embracing the principle of redemptive violence. But when we commit violence against a member of our community, we are engaging in violence to ourselves…Who are we if we are not our brothers/sisters keeper?”

As she got ready for Wednesday’s march Janee Wright, 7th Grade Science teacher told Our Time Press that Launch Charter is an expeditionary learning school with each grade focusing on different topics, and the 7th grade looks into gun violence. So, at the end of the school year, they “research, explore, investigate all different types of topics related to gun violence; whether that’s the Second Amendment, the causes of gun violence; in science, we talked about how gun violence is a public health crisis. So, we looked at different epidemics.

“They are doing a lot of interdisciplinary work,” said the educator, adding that with a step show, poetry, and their own art, “They feel empowered being able to reach people in their own community because they hand out pamphlets that they created with information. It makes them feel that they have the power to make a change.”