BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Residents throughout the Beckley area have been dealt significant measures of grief, frustration, and urgency over the past week as several shooting-related deaths and injuries have swept the area.
Following no fewer than three Raleigh County shootings on Saturday alone, community members quickly mobilized to organize a Love, Peace, and Unity Walk on Sunday at Scott Avenue.
“Last night and this morning, I was texting with Bishop Simms and was saying, ‘we can’t let today pass without doing something,’” Brian Brown, a key organizer in Sunday’s event tells LOOTPRESS.
”I reached out to Danielle Stewart, Christina Baisden, Kristi Williams Dumas, and Kamilah Catus at like 7:45, and by 8:30 we had the flier done and we were ready to go.
It was just important for us to really take a step forward and try to create some sort of interruption and positive message to come out of all the tragedy.”
Stewart echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the importance of coming together in the face of these types of issues.
”This is a community problem that requires a community answer,” she says. We have to break down the barriers that keep us from working together.”
Beginning at 3:00pm on Sunday at Scott Avenue Park, the walk saw dozens of community members – many hoisting homemade signs calling for unity – take to the streets to spread their message.
The walk took participants to 7th Street and back, and saw some members chanting for peace and the saving of local families from the recent wave of violence which has impacted the area.
WV House of Delegates member Todd Kirby joined in on the walk, telling LOOTPRESS,
“It’s obvious Beckley is going through a surge in violent crime; gun crime. While we may not have all the answers as to exactly what’s going on or why these shootings happened, it’s good to see the community coming together and demanding that it has to stop.”
Delegate Kirby expressed hope that the event could be the impetus for positive change throughout the community.
“I think the overall message in today’s walk should be one of hope, change, joy and a better future for the community, specifically downtown Beckley and East Beckley,” he said.
Beckley City Council is scheduled to assemble on Tuesday. It is unclear at the time of writing whether the recent string of shooting related incidents throughout the Beckley area will be addressed in any capacity during the session.