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Local organizations address youth gun violence after Perry Street shooting injured four students

Leon County Schools says four students from three different schools were hurt, as Omega Lamplighters pushes for community-wide support.
omega lamplighters address youth gun violence
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SOUTH TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — We're learning more about some of the student victims in Saturday's shooting.
Leon County Schools says four students from three different schools were hurt.

Gun violence is something that local organizations like Omega Lamplighters is addressing head on. I spoke with leaders there about where the community goes from here.

WATCH VIDEO BELOW:

Local organizations address youth gun violence after Perry Street shooting injured four students

As he thinks about what happened Saturday night, Royale King, the founder and CEO of the Omega Lamplighters, says addressing youth violence takes an entire village.

King says he was just one street over when those 11 people were shot on Perry Street. Now, with the arrest of a 15-year-old, he's further pushing their message that community support is necessary.

Right now, the organization is focused on continuing their work on gun violence intervention at high schools and preparing to work with youth who have already been involved in the justice system — a new partnership with Link-Up Tally.

"Unfortunately our young people aren't learning the necessary skills to be able to navigate conflict. It's deeply concerning, but it's just a sign for us more than anything that we want to do more. We need to do more, but in order to do that it can't just be a couple of organizations.

It's a community-wide thing. Everybody has to have a piece in this, and that doesn't mean start an organization, but how do we collaborate and leverage all of our resources to save our children?" King said.

The two-year program with Link-Up was funded through a grant from the City of Tallahassee.
When it comes to support in schools, Leon County Schools says that counselors have been on campus, available to connect with students.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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