19 hours ago
Violent week in Fort Worth highlights urgent need for funding for shooting prevention program
A 22-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with a shooting early Friday morning at a FedEx Ground facility in Fort Worth.
Police say Gerneicea Fulton has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly shooting someone during a fight in the facility's parking lot. The victim remains in critical condition.
Private lot shooting raises concerns
CBS News Texas
"With our extra patrols on the street, you've got a private parking lot where something like this takes place," said Officer Buddy Calzada, a public information officer for the Fort Worth Police Department. "In that private parking lot, people just have to be adults. They don't need to bring weapons to try to solve some kind of disturbance."
Calzada added, "That concerns us — that people think this is the way you solve an argument, when it's not."
Spike in gun violence across Fort Worth
The incident is the latest in a string of violent events across Fort Worth this week. On Sunday, five people were killed in separate, unrelated shootings over the course of about 20 hours. Then, on Wednesday night, officers found a man shot in the head inside a car in west Fort Worth.
Police say that in nearly all of this week's shootings, the violence began with an argument or altercation that escalated when someone pulled out a gun.
Community leaders urge conflict resolution
"Our biggest concern is how can we prevent it from leading up to that?" Calzada said. "You know, speak to somebody, get your frustrations out by talking to another individual."
That's exactly what local nonprofit VIP Fort Worth aims to help young people do.
Nonprofit scales back after funding loss
The organization mentors young men ages 11 to 29 who live in neighborhoods identified as "shooting hot spots."
"Our purpose is to try to stop retaliation whenever it takes place, as well as stop gun violence before it happens," said Rodney McIntosh, program director of VIP Fort Worth. "We just engage with these young men on a day-to-day basis, talking about emotional intelligence, emotional maturity, de-escalation, how to deal with conflict."
But the group has had to scale back its efforts dramatically after losing federal funding in May — an outcome McIntosh says is already having deadly consequences.
Call to restore violence prevention programs
"In the last month, since we kind of had to slow things down — we hadn't lost a fellow in I think three years — we've lost two in the last month," he said.
McIntosh emphasized the urgency of restoring the program to full capacity.
"When this program is not functioning or not working, the chances of a young man losing his life becomes far greater," he said. "And so we have to make sure that we keep this program going in this city."
