Dozens of Brooklyn community members took to Bedford-Stuyvesant Tuesday night to advocate for safer streets in response to a weekend shooting in the area.

Members and volunteers of Save Our Streets (S.O.S.) Bed-Stuy and S.O.S. Crown Heights, advocacy groups against gun violence, met on the corner of Van Buren Street and Tompkins Avenue to spread awareness about the non-fatal shooting that occurred in the area on Saturday. The group protests gun violence whenever shootings occur in the area.

“I don’t like standing on this corner yelling in a blow horn, talking about how somebody got shot,” said Tiffany Murray, program manager of S.O.S. Bed-Stuy. “This is unacceptable.”

Community members boasted signs that read, “Stop shooting, start living,” as passersby from nearby Herbert Von King Park gathered to watch.

In addition to shooting response events, the groups have a team of outreach workers that serve as mentors for people at risk of becoming shooting victims or doing the shooting.

“We use our skills and our ability to talk to people, build trust and relationships and let them know that they don’t have to pick up that gun,” Murray said.

The members and volunteers were specifically responding to an early morning shooting of a 27-year-old man on July 21. The shooting occurred after a dispute between people from out of the community, according to Murray.

Reported shooting incidents in Brooklyn this year have reached 169, a rise from last year’s total 154 shootings, according to NYPD crime statistics.

“Any shooting is one too many,” Murray said. “Far too often, far too often we are out here having to say, this is unacceptable.”

---

Related Articles

After acquittal of killer cop, victim’s family takes to the streets

July 25 | By Paul Frangipane