WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— Shots rang out not once, not twice, but at least three times this week in Wilkes-Barre.
Two happened within the last 24 hours that gun violence and crime has a lot of people looking for change in the Diamond City. 28/22 News reporter Gianna Galli joins us live in Wilkes-Barre.
She talked with a victim of gun violence, and what the city says is being done about these issues.
Three shootings here in Wilkes-Barre are currently under investigation tonight as we speak. The gun related incidents happened just hours apart.
A victim of past gun violence I spoke with earlier today reminding people this is something we need to take seriously.
“This is not a game. This is real life. People are dying,” pleaded Najada Pilgrim, DJ Mo’s mom.
Najada Pilgrim, who lost both of her sons to gun violence a few years ago, was on Public Square Thursday continuing to fight for change in the Diamond City through her “Peace Only Foundation.” except she feels that change isn’t happening as three shootings have taken place in just three days in Wilkes-Barre.
“No more guns. Put the guns down. It takes a bigger person to walk away. We have to stop it. We have to to stop it as a community,” stated Pilgrim.
Her son, Michael Onley, better known as DJ Mo, a popular local dj, was shot and killed in 2013 in Wilkes-Barre.
“I can’t bring them back and once they are gone they are gone,” said pilgrim.
On Tuesday, police found evidence of shots fired at Franklin and Ingham streets around 2:00 p.m. Just 12 hours later at 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday, police responded to an area of Brook Street where two women say a man had shot a gun toward them. Then later that morning at around 9:00 A.M. A report of a vehicle struck by a bullet on Poplar Street.
Some say, this has become “Normal” for the area.
“My friends will be like what was that a gunshot? It’s Wilkes-Barre,” said Malaysia Conley of Wilkes-Barre.
Mayor George Brown disagrees. He says city police are on top of the crime.
“What a great job our police force has done and will continue to do. My job is to provide the training and the materials that they need and we are doing that,” emphasized Mayor Brown.
As officers continue to investigate the recent gun violence, pilgrim wants people in the community to start taking these crimes seriously, and help to create change among the youth.
“This is not no game no video game that you shoot shoot and the person gets back up and walks away. This is real life. If we are not part of the solution, then we apart of the problem,” explained Pilgrim.
The shootings are currently under investigation.
