LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After six months in 2022, Louisville is on pace for 170 homicides this year.

On Thursday, two men were found dead in an apartment near Oxmoor Center while a male was also shot and killed in Portland. Those three killings brought Louisville's homicide number to 15 for the month of June, and 85 for the year.

Christie Welch, deputy director of Christopher 2X Game Changers, works with people impacted by gun violence, either survivors or loved ones of victims. The local nonprofit promotes early childhood education and community involvement in hopes of ending violence.

"It's very important that these families know that someone is out here thinking about you in these moments," Welch said. "The happy times, the sad times, the depressed times, the angry times."

Welch lost her cousin to gun violence. The memories of him are held together by stories told by other people to her.

The victims lost to gun violence become a memory, gone in the matter of moments.

"These are really tough conversations that many people can't even fathom," Welch said. "This is a whole lifetime people have imagined with each other, dreams and places they want to go to that now can never happen because of a random act of violence."

The families of gun violence victims live in fear, according to Welch. She says some haven't processed the pain as cases stretch on for years without being solved.

"If someone had this much violence toward one of my family members, none of us are safe," Welch said. "There are a lot of emotions people are going through rationally, trying to process it.

"It's insurmountable, this dichotomy that exists of wanting to be present and happy and think about the future, but then also sadness that comes with that same thought. As soon as I'm happy, it makes me sad. It's this back and forth, it's really hard."

There have also been 200 non-fatal shootings this year in Louisville, according to Christopher 2X.

Last year, 188 homicides were reported, 24 of whom were children ages 17 and younger. That set a record for homicides in a single year, after 173 homicides were reported in 2020.

2X said 583 people were wounded by gunfire last year.

Louisville Homicides in 2022 
 Month Number 
 January  16 
 February  9 
 March  18 
 April  13 
 May  14 
 June 15 

     

While Louisville is currently on pace for a less deadly year than 2021, those numbers don't show the direct impact violence has at the personal level.

"Every life saved is great and worth fighting for, but just to throw out statements like 'we're on track to have a lower year than before' what about all the families from the year before?" Welch said. "There's still a vast amount of people that need help and resources, and they need justice. I don't know what type of consolation that is."

Christopher 2X Game Changers has devoted resources to supporting children impacted by gun violence. The Future Healers program is a partnership between Christopher 2X's Game Changers, UofL Hospital's Trauma Institute and students at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. 

Welch calls children the key to the future.

HOMICIDE HALFWAY POINT

Christie Welch, deputy director of Christopher 2X Game Changers, speaks to WDRB on July 1, 2022.

In a recent conversation with high school students participating in a Louisville summer works program, Welch said the teenagers admitted to her that they didn't expect to live to 21 years old because of the amount of violence they're surrounded by.

"If the youth are decimated, depressed, impoverished, aren't able to think and dream, where does society go? Where can we go as a people if the future does not want to go into the future?" Welch said.

Welch said sometimes a random act of kindness can go a long way.

"Just from the topic 'gun violence,' this trigger word that we hear so much. It seems very scary, but really help is in a random act of kindness," Welch said. "Help is these families are reaching out, giving them some groceries. Help is maybe taking them to the movies. Help is reaching out and babysitting the kids. That's how we can all help as a community these families."

Anyone with information about a shooting is asked to call the LMPD anonymous tip line at 502-574-LMPD (5673) or submit a tip using LMPD's online portal. 

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