NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Friday marks National Gun Awareness Day and the start of “Wear Orange” weekend.
It comes as gun violence in New York City continues to rise.
After a year plagued with gun violence here in New York, National Gun Awareness Day brings on special meaning.
People are speaking out on social media against gun violence, from survivors like former House Representative Gabby Giffords to family members who lost their loved ones.
In Flatbush, Brooklyn, just hours before her wake Friday, some of Shalimar Birkett‘s family members wore orange while gathering to comfort one another.
The 32-year-old was attending a memorial in Brownsville, Brooklyn, in mid-May when police say she was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting.
“We don’t want her death to be in vain. That it means something,” cousin Harriet Hines said.
“She was always smiling, always full of life,” Terriel Scanterbury said.
Police believe Birkett, a mom of two young boys, was an innocent bystander when she was shot.
“The grief is in my heart deeply, and it’s something that I can’t really express,” father Haile Mariam said.
Birkett’s death comes on the heels of a large spike in gun violence in the city.
As of Thursday, there have been 585 shootings year to date, compared to 344 during the same period last year.
Leaders say more resources are needed to curb the violence, especially in at-risk communities.
“It’s the resources. We need to make sure that we have trade jobs for our young people, that we have hubs to send them to so that they can continue to grow and learn and have some activities,” City Council Member Farah N. Louis told CBS2’s Kiran Dhillon.
Birkett’s family agrees.
Police have yet to make an arrest in her death.
The family wants to see more police engagement in communities, along with stricter gun laws.
“What can we do as a community to make sure that our children are safe? And that takes a conversation, that takes planning, that takes strategic action,” Scanterbury said.
They say change might not bring Birkett back, but at least it will prevent more senseless deaths.
CBS2’s Kiran Dhillon contributed to this report.
from CBS New York https://ift.tt/2Izr88c
