Calls for action against violence made in wake of fifteen-year-old being shot

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Tyler Brown was sitting in his father's SUV when neighbors heard gun shots on South Bend's West Side. 

Police found a bullet hole in the windshield and Brown, shot in the passenger seat. 

Now, Seth Maust, the founder of FiveStarLife, is calling on the community to stop choosing violence.

“In these situations, we often just throw our hands up and say ‘that’s so sad, I wish I could do something,’" said Maust. "And for me, with what I do with FiveStarLife, I know we can do something.”

Maust knew Brown; he played for FiveStarLife's youth basketball team. 

“He’s raised right, he’s making good decisions, he’s a great kid," he said. "And so when something like this happens to someone like that, it makes you angry.”

FiveStarLife helps educate kids and keep them from dropping out of school, in part, through changing their mindset. 

Maust said “Violence starts not spontaneously; it starts with a mindset. When you devalue someone to the point where you want to take their life or injure them- you have a broken mindset.”

Brown was rushed to the hospital with what people close to the case say was a gunshot wound to the head.

He made it through surgery, but doctor are not sure if he will survive.

Now, the fifteen-year-old could become South Bend's fourteenth victim to a fatal shooting this year. 

“We’ve got to do some mass work with kids, and stuff that works that’s based on research and based on results," said Maust. "We can change this thing. I believe there’s hope. Can you change everything in a day? No, but there are things you can put in place that will greatly reduce these things and that’s what we want to start coming to the table and say ‘let’s start offering these solutions.’”

While Tyler Brown recovers, Maust wants to assure him and his family are being thought of: “We love you. We love your family, we’re praying for you.”

And praying for change: “I just want to ask people to take action. Not to throw up their hands and say ‘too bad,’ and do nothing. Do something.”

If you have any information about the shooting, call Michiana Crime Stoppers at (574) 288-STOP.