Aurora Mother Whose Child Was Killed in 1995 Shooting Disturbed, Tired of Youth Violence After 5 Shot Over The Weekend
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - The Aurora Police Department is investigating another shooting involving teens, this time leaving five people shot, four of them ranging between ages 16 to 20.
The shooting happened just after midnight Sunday near East Colfax Avenue and North Dayton Street. When police arrived at the scene, they found two male victims with gunshot wounds. They also encountered a large group of people leaving the area that were likely attending a party in a basement. Police say three others also showed up later at a local hospital.
"It is so disturbing and tiring, to know that our kids are yet, and still getting hand on guns," said Sharletta Evans, who lost her 3-year-old son in 1995 as a result of youth gun violence in Aurora. Sharletta said it's time for community leaders to do "interruption work" and start shifting their strategies.
RELATED: 5 Shot In Aurora: Victims Range From 16-20 Years Old
"We need to go in, have access to the Aurora Public Schools, as well as the Denver Public Schools, and go in as interrupters," Evans said. "Violence interrupters, bully interrupters, criminal activity interrupters."
But there's a lot of red tape that is preventing community leaders and organizations from going into schools to provide resources to students.
"There is a roadblock within the school district, the way their policies are written, to where for community workers to come into the school, it's almost close to impossible for us to get close to the students," she said.
Evans said school administrators need to rewrite their polices to address the needs students have outside of academics, such as mental health and addressing substance abuse. Evans said, while the schools play a big part in addressing youth violence, so do the parents of the students.
"We must parent our children. We can't allow them to bring guns into our home," Evans said. "We really must take a look at what's our child's next move?"
Police said all those involved in the shooting are expected to survive. They are also investigating whether this shooting is connected to another shooting that happened nearby.
APS is implementing tighter restrictions in response to the violence. All of the district's high schools will have closed campuses starting Monday, meaning students won't be allowed to leave campus during lunch or free periods. An APS spokesperson said that they will re-evaluate after winter break to see if they need to continue that policy.
