PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Portsmouth police are once again trying to combat gun violence in the city one step at a time.
The police department held a R.E.S.E.T. Walk Wednesday afternoon in the area where 19-year-old Aveyon Jordan was shot and killed Monday night.
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“I’ve been crying off and on for over a day not just for this one situation but of the fact that so many parents are losing their children," said Portsmouth School Board President Dr. Cardell Patillo, Jr.
Tuesday afternoon, 20-year-old Khatori Harper and a 14-year-old who police did not name were shot and killed on Turnpike Road in Portsmouth.
"I don't believe there's one answer to how we can stop this," said Patillo, Jr. "I believe that children are raised by a village and I believe the village needs to get stronger."
At the walk Wednesday afternoon, News 3 asked police for an interview about the shootings, but a spokesperson for the police department said no one there could be interviewed.
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Patillo, Jr. said he can remember seeing Jordan in elementary school and has lost a child himself, so he knows the pain his family is going through.
“This one’s going to rock the school community," said Portsmouth City Council Member De'Andre Barnes.
Barnes’s son played football and basketball with Jordan. Barnes said more needs to be done to help kids.
“We have to make sure our kids get the best opportunities, so we have to provide those opportunities," said Barnes. "The kids in this generation, especially my son in particular, he's seen so many kids that he went to school with, played sports with get shot and killed in the last couple years."
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Eugene Swinson also knew Jordan well. Swinson is the co-founder of Big H.O.M.I.E.S. Community Outreach which works to prevent gun violence in Hampton Roads.
He said Jordan had been on a college visit earlier in the day.
“Incidents like this just tell us ‘Hey, this is the reason why we should be doing the work that we’re doing,’” Swinson explained.
Work he believes is having an impact.
“I don’t ever really feel discouraged," said Swinson.
These shooting deaths were the seventh, eighth, and ninth of 2024 in Portsmouth. As of March 12 2023, there had been 17.”
