Concerns for rise in gun violence after five-year-old injured in drive-by shooting

 

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- A five-year-old girl and another innocent bystander were the unintentional victims of a drive by shooting in Benton Harbor over the weekend.

It happened at the corner of Broadway and Britain Avenues Saturday afternoon, and so far, police have not announced any arrests or suspects.

Police say they are both in stable condition, but the random shooting is feeding concerns about the rise of gun violence this summer.

"I hope this will alarm our community to get closer together, that we can curb this," says Bishop James Atterberry, Senior Pastor at Brotherhood Church of God and Christ.

Bishop Atterberry hopes it's a safe summer for the youth of Benton Harbor.

The news of a five-year-old little girl being injured by a stray round while playing on her front lawn has him worried for what the rest of the summer might bring.

"This should get us stirred up to start really putting some things in place and be proactive so that we can help," hopes Bishop Atterberry.

That's why he's already trying to make a change.

Working to set up summer activities like concerts and other programs in tandem with the Benton Harbor Department of Public Safety to make sure the city's kids and teens have something productive and fun to do with their downtime.

"I think what our problem is, and it's probably all over, there's just not enough things happening for the youth," Bishop Atterberry says. "We don't have a lot of programs anymore in our communities, we don't have a lot of things happening, so you just have a lot of kids hanging out."

He says it's a community-wide effort to put a halt to the senseless gun violence.

"We can't give up, we can't stop, we got to keep fighting to make it better," pleads Bishop Atterberry.

The shooter is still out there.

Police say they are currently working several active leads in the investigation and believe the shooter was driving a white vehicle.

They're still asking anyone with information on the shooting to contact the police.