As Raleigh community meeting on violence takes place, so does nearby shooting at bus stop
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Police are investigating a shooting Monday evening at a bus stop near Walmart on New Bern Avenue, where a person was injured by bullet fragments and taken to a hospital, authorities said.
Crime tape, officers, and a K-9 unit surrounded the scene just before 7 p.m. as investigators worked to determine what led to the gunfire. The shooting happened less than half a mile from a community meeting focused on preventing violence in Raleigh neighborhoods.
"This should be a wake-up call," community activist Diana Powell said.
Powell, founder of Justice Served NC, helped organize the "Bring Back the Village" meeting, where residents and Raleigh Police discussed ways to curb violence happening outside their homes.
"People are concerned, but it's easy to go in your house, close your door, your thing, and say, that's not my problem until it hits your door," Powell said.
She told attendees the group is focused on educating, organizing, and unifying the community.
"There are five pillars that I say we have got to educate each of our community, right? And we get to organize, strategize and mobilize and then unify. And then we can have that fist to fight nonviolence, to get the changes that we need," she said.
Residents say those changes are urgently needed. A fight led to a shooting at the same bus stop last summer, and a person was stabbed near the location before that.
"Definitely heartbreaking," said Raymond Owens, who also attended the meeting.
Owens said he wants to help young people find support and alternatives to violence.
"When I was out there in the streets, in the south side of Raleigh, I needed somebody to talk to. I needed some people to go to," he said. "That's really one of the main focus is, letting them know that they definitely got other resources and other things to do outside of the violence."
Powell said she remains hopeful.
"I am optimistic that we can bring back that village and empower our community," she said.
The group meets every second Monday of the month. Organizers are working to set up a gun buyback event aimed at getting firearms off the streets -- the same type of weapon police say shut down the bus stop for hours Monday night.
The investigation continues. No arrests have been made.
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