LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - People from the Hope Neighborhood in Little Rock are crying out for help after four teens were gunned down on Friday night, Nov. 16, killing three of them and leaving another critically injured.
Neighbors in the area told THV11, they feel crime rates are only getting higher.
“For a kid to get their life taken when they haven’t even lived life yet, that’s hurtful,” said Joia Faulkner, a neighbor. “It brings tears to my eyes.”
Joia Faulkner has lived on 14th street for ten years and said there’s never been a shooting on her street, so she was shocked to hear the gun shots Friday night.
She said when she walked out to see what was happening, she found a young man that had been shot and was crying for help.
“I was like, I’m [going to] pull you in, I said I know you’re hurt but I got to pull you in because I don’t know if they’re going to start shooting again,” said Faulkner.
Although she was worried more gun shots would ring out, Faulkner said she felt she had to protect the teen.
“I said, all I can think of to do is if that happen, just to cover him with my body,” said Faulkner.
After calling 911 Faulkner said she comforted the teen the best way she knew how until help could arrive.
“I just let him know that god got him and just to calm down,” said Faulkner. “That he’s strong and he’s going to get through this.”
Faulkner said she didn’t realize there were three other teens who had also been shot and were inside an upside-down car in a ditch directly next to her house.
Since that shooting happened on Friday night there is a shrine that continues to grow as people stop to pay their respects.
“You lose a child, you lost a little bit of you,” said one family friend who stopped at the shrine.
With that constant reminder of the violence in her community, Faulkner said something needs to be done.
“They need to find something for the kids to do,” said Faulkner. “They need to something. There’s something that can be done to prevent this from happening again.”
It’s an idea that is echoed by Ken Richardson, the City Director of Ward 2, where the Hope Neighborhood is located.
He said these violent crimes are a product of several circumstances including unemployment and lack of resources, that cause a sense of helplessness in impoverished neighborhoods.
"You would never see anything like that north of I-630,” said Richardson. “You would never see anything like that happen to a bunch of white males or females."
He said additional police enforcement in the area isn't enough to fix the problem, and outlying issues like gang and drug activity need to be addressed.
“We need to figure out a more deliberate, more comprehensive more intensive way of engaging the community and when I say community, I’m talking about those people who are more likely to be the victims or perpetrators of these acts we just saw.”
Richardson said he hopes in the future, there will be a bigger budget to fund more outreach programs in low income neighborhoods.
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