City leaders discuss impact, solutions to stop gun violence in Durham: 'We have to do better'

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- More young people are becoming victims of gun violence in Durham, according to the latest Durham Police Department (DPD) stats that show as of May 18, at least 28 people under the age of 21 have been shot so far this year.

"You can just sit there and be an innocent bystander and get hit," one young man said. "Bullets don't have a name on it."

The young man was part of a panel on Wednesday where Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams and Durham Sheriff Clarence Birkhead discussed how to help young people stay out of crime as part of the My Brother's Keeper Durham Summit that took place at the community center at Lyon Park.

"It's a sad truth that this room of nearly a hundred kids have all been impacted by gun violence," Sheriff Birkhead said. "We have to do better."

Bull City United is one group impacting the community by helping young people stay out of crime.

"We came from those same communities that these kids are growing up in now," outreach supervisor Carlos McLendon said. "So it's only right that we come back and give our due diligence to kind of guide these kids in the right direction."

However, when it comes to solving gun violence, it takes a "multifaceted approach," according to both Mayor Williams and Sheriff Birkhead.

"Why is it that we can be so passionate about everything else around us other than what is right before us?" Williams said. "It's not complicated, it's complex. We have all the ingredients of a solution. But we need some serious tenacity, and that's going to take policy."

Williams said he plans to launch a campaign in June that involves his response to combating gun violence in the city, while for Sheriff Birkhead, he continued calling for better education on safe storage.

"The proliferation of firearms in all of our communities, particularly here in Durham, to me is mind-boggling," Birkhead said. "So we have to do a better job of securing weapons and keeping those weapons out of the hands of our young people."

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