Pittsburgh Review

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey recently released a statement about gun violence in the city saying that “it is time to end the pandemic of violence that is taking the lives of too many young people in our city.”

The statement was released March 31 in the wake of a series of shootings in recent days, including the shooting of 15-year-old Dayvon Vickers and 29-year-old Devonte White who were killed in the incidents.

According to a report by WPXI April 2, there were six shootings in Pittsburgh over four days, and earlier in the week there were three deadly shootings.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of Dayvon Vickers, Devonte White, and the entire community today,” Gainey said. “We are in the process of being able to connect the families with counseling and supportive services they will need to help them through this tragedy. My administration has launched a critical incident review to get a deeper understanding as to the root cause of the violence last night and we plan to release what we find as soon as we are able to.”

Gainey said to find peace in the community, justice must also be found, according to his statement. He said that the city needs to come together as one community to solve the murders and find justice for the families.

He said the city is facing “a pandemic of gun violence,” that authorities are doing everything in their power to find those responsible and a public health response is needed.

“We know that our goal is going to be hard to accomplish, but that doesn’t mean that we should be afraid to try to find a path to peace in Homewood and in every neighborhood in Pittsburgh,” Gainey said.

He said a community meeting held in Homewood led to a conversation about having a community with zero-gun deaths, but that conversation also included uplifting and celebrating the neighborhood and its people, according to his statement.