Community Outreach Continues After Deadly Newark Shooting: 'Let's Choose Peace'
NEWARK, NJ — Jordan Garcia, Kiyah Mae Scott and Masi Rogers haven't been forgotten in Newark.
Organizers continue to hold community outreach events after a
Local community organizers have responded to the shooting with an ongoing series of outreach events aimed at preventing future tragedies.
A "State of Emergency Anti-Violence Tour" will include a stop at Masjid Ibrahim, 392 Chancellor Avenue, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13. The
"We're deploying violence interrupters, credible messengers, teachers, and mentors across every ward, because saving lives takes all of us," organizers wrote.
"Let's stand together," organizers added. "Let's choose peace. Let's move Newark forward."
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DEADLY SHOOTING
The shooting took place on the 300-block of Chancellor Avenue around 7 p.m. on Nov. 15. Two victims – a 10-year-old boy and a 21-year-old woman – were pronounced dead at University Hospital: Jordan Garcia, 10, and Kiyah Mae Scott, 21.
Three other people were wounded: an 11-year-old boy – who is Garcia's brother – a 19-year-old male and a 60-year-old man. One of them – later identified as Masi Rogers, 19 – died on Nov. 20 after being hospitalized in critical condition.
A reward of up to $10,000 is being offered through the Essex County Crime Stoppers program for information leading to an arrest in this case. Authorities said anyone with information can contact the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Tips Line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432.
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COMMUNITY RESPONDS
As they have
The Newark Anti-Violence Coalition (NAVC) organized the people and the community for a healing circle and peace rally on Nov. 16 near the site of last month's deadly shooting.
Later that week, a community meeting was held at Masjid Ibrahim to discuss strategies to bring "healing and support" to the traumatized neighborhoods of Leslie Street, Chancellor Avenue and Wainwright Street.
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Nearby in East Orange, community members including Mayor Ted Green gathered amid the extreme cold weather for an anti-violence rally on Dec. 5. Several NAVC members also showed up at the rally to speak.
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CRIME STATISTICS IN NEWARK
According to the Essex County prosecutor, last month's shooting took place amid a general downward trend in local crime.
"Here in the City of Newark, the stats say that homicides have decreased from year 2022, a total of 81, down to this year, where at this point in November, there are 38 homicides," Stephens said. "So if we extrapolate that out for the rest of the year, that's more than a 50 percent decrease in terms of homicides in the City of Newark."
This mirrors county, state and nation trends, he added.
"So this makes the events of this weekend particularly vexing and particularly difficult, and why we have are not wasting or not withholding any resources," Stephens said. "Everything is being utilized to try to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible, bring these perpetrators to justice."
"I'm sure anybody who knows the history of urban America is you make two steps forward or one step back – or sometimes one step forward, two steps back," Stephens said. "So there are always detractors who want to take one isolated incident and make it into a trend or something that is just not true."
"The facts speak for themselves," he said.
Mayor Ras Baraka said that Newark has seen a "historic reduction in violence" over the past few years. However, he added that the Nov. 15 shooting is a "vivid reminder that there is so much more work we must do."
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