DA Larry Krasner Announces New Initiative To Fight Gun Violence In West/Southwest Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Hours after a double shooting in Southwest Philadelphia left a man dead and a pregnant woman injured, the city's district attorney announced Monday four organizations created a new initiative aimed to respond to gun violence west of the Schuylkill River.
Officials held a ribbon cutting outside of the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia offices in West Philadelphia on Monday, where District Attorney Larry Krasner announced a new partnership that will be headquartered there. The initiative was launched by AVP, Beloved Care Project Penn Injury Science Center and DA's Office Crisis Assistance, Response, and Engagement for Survivors
"I am delighted to have a chance to talk about the West/Southwest Collaborative Response to Gun Violence," Krasner said Monday.
The collaborative specifically aims to help those impacted by gun violence in West and Southwest Philadelphia, areas that have seen spikes in shootings during the pandemic.
"If you want to be working in the community, you have to be in the community," Krasner said.
"What we want to do, we want this thing to work whereas though the families, like I said the children and the communities and all these women and children that are being murdered, become conscious and aware there are resources for them. Because until they know there's more resources and the collaboration to make these resources a whole lot better," Khalif Mujahid-Ali, founder of Beloved Care Project, said. "The more organizations that come together like we're coming together now, there's a whole lot more work we can do."
The announcement came just hours after a shooting left a 25-year-old man dead and a 24-year-old pregnant woman critically injured. It happened near a Wendy's at the Penrose Shopping Plaza just after 8:30 Sunday night. Roughly 30 bullet holes were left in the car the victims were riding in.
"The vehicle she was in was targeted. She was a passenger in that vehicle," Assistant District Attorney Chesley Lightsey said.
The man who was driving the car was shot several times before he died.
The woman was shot once and rushed to a nearby hospital, where authorities say she and her unborn child have been stabilized. She was one of 220 women shot in criminal incidents across the city this year, according to police.
"The fact that she was in a vehicle that was shot at so many times, it's really a miracle that she was able to get out and go to the hospital," Lightsey said.
No arrests have been made in that shooting.
Officials say there will be services offered at the collaborative response center to help the victim as well as neighbors in this area who might be experiencing trauma after hearing the gunfire or even possibly witnessing it.
