MIAMI (WSVN) - Despite a heavy downpour of rain, dozens of residents in Miami-Dade County marched to appeal for an end to the recent rash of gun violence.
The march ran 1.5 miles from the Ark of the City at 6100 NW 2nd Ave. and ended at Range Park on Northwest 62nd Street, Monday evening, as families marched with police from different agencies to push for peace to quell the gun violence that’s been plaguing the community.
It’s been a violent 2021 in Miami-Dade County.
“Our babies are crying, our city is crying, let our children live!” said Leatha Bush.
The county has been hit with countless shootings. Many of the victims have been children, and these families say they are tired.
“We keep saying enough is enough, but when is enough going to be enough?” said Bush, who lost her son to gun violence.
That’s why the parents of these victims, along with police from different agencies, and the community marched side by side, in the pouring rain, demanding an end to the violence.
“We want to stop all this killing, get the killers off the street, so we can live comfortably,” Bush said.
This year, cities and the county have seen gun violence crimes soar from all corners of Miami-Dade.
The victims include 3-year-old Elijah LaFrance, who was killed at his own birthday party, and 6-year-old Chassidy Saunders, also killed at a birthday party.
The top cops say, “Enough is enough.”
“When the streets see a young child taken from their mother, even in the street, a gang banger that’s a man stands up for that mother and that child and comes forward!” said Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo.
“Those who are doing it, that small amount of people that walk amongst us and think they’re getting away with it, ain’t getting away with it no more,” said Miami-Dade Police Department Director Alfredo Ramirez.
But police said in order to do that, they need the community’s help.
“I’m a mother of three daughters — three beautiful girls — and I can’t imagine if one of them were to be in the ground, so come and help us, come and partner with us and do what’s right,” said Miami Gardens Police Chief Delma Noel-Pratt.
Many of the crimes are still unsolved, so if you can help police find the killers, give them a call immediately.
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