3 of 4 Sunday shooting victims fell under ONE Lexington program’s purview

Three out of Sunday’s four Lexington shooting victims were men between the ages of 13 and 29, the ages which Mayor Linda Gorton’s ONE Lexington program serves, according to newly updated Lexington Police Department crime data. The program aims to reduce violent crime among the age group, which city officials have identified as being problematic.

Three victims were shot in one incident at Loudon and Winchester early Sunday morning. They were ages 28, 18, and 34.

One victim, age 24, was shot on Richmond Road Sunday evening.

“We often see instances of gun violence that start as small conflicts,” ONE Lexington Director Devine Carama recently said at a press conference announcing the program’s strategic plan. “We have had a huge amount of success with our intervention efforts in keeping those conflicts from growing, and we are continuing to improve our ability to intervene after gun violence occurs. Providing support to victims will prevent retaliatory acts and keep more of our residents safe.”

CM David Kloiber, who is running for mayor, wants to try a different approach to curbing gun violence in Lexington. He says the local community organizing group BUILD has a solution with the Group Violence Intervention (GVI) program that has been successful in other cities. Mayor Gorton, on the other hand, says that ONE Lexington will eventually work for Lexington following implementation of the strategic plan and that no course correction is needed.

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