Gun violence continues to be a problem in Lexington. First District Lexington Councilman James Brown used his comment time at the end of Tuesday’s council work session to speak about recent violence. He said Saturday started out as a good day and turned into a bad day. Brown specifically referred to a fatal shooting this past weekend at a church where a funeral was being conducted for a homicide victim.
“After the incident on Saturday, my phone started blowing up. I started getting phone calls from community members, from retired police officers, from neighbors-family members that are sick of it. And they’re willing to do whatever they have to take to try to address this,” said Brown.
After the meeting, he reflected on the incident at the Unity Worship Center.
“That just takes it up a whole another level when you do it at a place of faith where people go to worship and then at a ceremony where people are, a homegoing situation, a funeral where you should be safe to mourn the loss of someone. You don’t go there to lose someone else,” said Brown.
Brown said his pastor Sunday spoke about the need for the faith community to do more. The councilman said there’s no simple answer, but he added, to not acknowledge the problem is not authentic. Brown noted part of the needed response is to hold each other accountable and speak up when you know something.
