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Community comes together for March Against Violence in downtown Norfolk

Posted at 10:46 PM, Jan 16, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-16 22:46:39-05

NORFOLK, Va. - Community members came together for the 3rd Annual Forward Peace: March Against Violence to raise awareness about violence across Hampton Roads.

The group met on Granby Street and walked in unison to the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial with signs and speakers, to encourage the community to start a conversation and solve arguments without guns.

The movement is especially close to Symone Gyles' heart.

She was there in honor of Joe Bose, a Hampton University student who was murdered back in Octoberat a party off of Old Dominion University's campus.

His case is among 15 murders since the beginning of 2015 that are unsolved in Norfolk.

"It's been almost 3 months now and no one has come forward with any information ," she says. "We have to be out in the community to show people that we care, that this is an issue that we're not going to give up on."

It's the same message that police across Hampton Roads are also trying to get across.

Newport News Police Chief Richard Myers pushed for community involvement at a news conference on Fridayin light of a double homicide.

"In more than one incident witnesses have refused to cooperate or provided very little useful information that can help us bring offenders to justice," he said.

Community members like Gyles feel that events similar to the March Against  Violence are a strong step forward.

"When you take a life it's not just that person, it goes up and up, there's people who love them and care about them who are now hurt for the rest of their lives," she says. "No one, no one should have to feel that."