DAYTON -- The city of Dayton has had a violent week, with six homicides in just the past five days.
Last Tuesday, a mother was gunned down in front of her two young children. On Wednesday, a 95-year-old man was shot in his home. And Sunday, a 13-year-old was killed allegedly by her mother's ex-boyfriend. Most of the homicides remain unsolved at this time.
Dayton residents are upset and want the violence to stop.
"Something needs to be done soon or we're just going to keep killing each other off," Matthew West from East Dayton said tonight at a community meeting at Omega Baptist Church.
"It's really disheartening to think that the community feels that it has no say so, no basis to help prevent these crimes from happening," Latonya Johnson of West Dayton told us.
Bishop Mark McGuire, executive director of the Community Police Relations Council, wants people to know that they do have a say and now is the time to take your neighborhoods back.
"We're actually coming together this week,'' Bishop McGuire told us. "A group of individuals have been earmarked to talk about some solutions, educational opportunities, preventative opportunities with young people and then some intervention."
"We can't be scared,'' said Katherin Crosby, with the City of Dayton Human Relations Council. "We can't stand behind our doors and lock our doors and hope that the problem will go away, if we don't stand up, if we don't come together through our churches our community organization or any means, then we will continue to experience this devastation."
Dayton's Human Relations Council is set to meet with community leaders to develop solutions to the violence. It's scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. at its downtown offices.
Last Tuesday, a mother was gunned down in front of her two young children. On Wednesday, a 95-year-old man was shot in his home. And Sunday, a 13-year-old was killed allegedly by her mother's ex-boyfriend. Most of the homicides remain unsolved at this time.
Dayton residents are upset and want the violence to stop.
"Something needs to be done soon or we're just going to keep killing each other off," Matthew West from East Dayton said tonight at a community meeting at Omega Baptist Church.
"It's really disheartening to think that the community feels that it has no say so, no basis to help prevent these crimes from happening," Latonya Johnson of West Dayton told us.
Bishop Mark McGuire, executive director of the Community Police Relations Council, wants people to know that they do have a say and now is the time to take your neighborhoods back.
"We're actually coming together this week,'' Bishop McGuire told us. "A group of individuals have been earmarked to talk about some solutions, educational opportunities, preventative opportunities with young people and then some intervention."
"We can't be scared,'' said Katherin Crosby, with the City of Dayton Human Relations Council. "We can't stand behind our doors and lock our doors and hope that the problem will go away, if we don't stand up, if we don't come together through our churches our community organization or any means, then we will continue to experience this devastation."
Dayton's Human Relations Council is set to meet with community leaders to develop solutions to the violence. It's scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. at its downtown offices.