Community advocates stress escalating violence in Louisville 'can't become normal'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Advocates in the city of Louisville will tell you there is no simple fix to eradicating gun violence in Louisville as homicide numbers skyrocket in 2022.

Activist Christopher 2X said there have been 41 homicides thus far, 16 of which have happened in March alone.

"There's a lot of kids suffering from secondary trauma due to all this violence," 2X said about others close to gun violence victims.

2X, along with Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, Louisville Zoo staff and others joined 2020 gun violence survivor Malakai Roberts on Monday to discuss prevention efforts. Roberts was 5 years old when he survived a gunshot to the head that caused him to go blind.

2X Game Changers and its Future Healers group aim to partner with organizations like the Zoo and UofL Health to intervene in kids ages 4-13.

"When they go back into those environments, hopefully we have influenced them in some kind of way to say, 'Wow, isn't it great to be on the healing side of this deal?' And an example for other kids to look at and say, 'I'm not going to follow that crap.'"

UofL Health Trauma Surgeon Dr. Keith Miller said this past weekend, which included eight separate shootings and seven total homicides, was all too familiar.

"This can't become normal," he said. "Normalization of the tragically unnormal is not acceptable. We can't let that happen in Louisville."

Paul is continuing efforts to work with 2X's organization and Roberts. Those conversations about intervening and preventing future behavior issues continued Monday.

"The people committing these crimes need to be in jail," Paul told reporters. "I tend to think that there's a small group committing most of the crimes and that they need to be removed."

Several advocates for prevention are hoping to steer the next generation in a different way.

"Our understanding of what this problem looks life from a decade ago is not what it is today," Miller said. "So continuing to put the time energy, effort and resources in order to do that, I think we're seeing that in our city."

Two of the victims from this weekend's violence are expected to survive. Click here to read about all eight of the incidents.