LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Community members in Louisville are frustrated by the escalating gun violence in the city.
"My son is traumatized for life basically because he got shot in a drive by shooting, said Escada Wilbanks.
A Louisville mother didn't want to show her face to WDRB out of fear for her family's safety, after her 8-year-old son was shot. "He just wakes up everyday and says I wish I never got shot."
On May 5, Wilbanks' son was playing basketball with his brothers, when a car pulled up and opened fire. The child and another man were shot on Kingston Avenue in the Southside neighborhood. Police don't have a suspect or a motive, but the "why" is still hard to explain to her son.
"He said, 'why did they shoot me for. I'm not grown. Why would they shoot me for,'" Wilbanks explained. "He still has a bullet in his leg right now, and he's going to have to get surgery in two weeks."
Breeway activist Antonio Brown organized a peaceful protest over the weekend to speak out against the violence that has erupted in our city.
"We are taking back our streets," Brown said.
A series of shootings left five people dead over Mother's Day weekend.
"Being silence is violence. We gotta do something and speak up for the community. This is why these acts is happening because they believe they can do anything and ain't nobody going to say anything," he said.
Brown feels the city should change its focus to stop the murders. "They are more infatuated with drug dealers than killers. They're more infatuated with homeless people than killers."
The director of the city's Group Violence Prevention Program said his office is identifying people who are victims of gun violence and encouraging them not to retaliate.
Meanwhile, Wilbanks wants to protect her son. "I just feel like put the guns down. Like its not even that serious for somebody to loose their life and for somebody to be traumatized for life over something so little."
Brown agrees. "We gotta get back to a community. We gotta get back to big mama standing on that corner telling everybody what's going on."
More coverage of Louisville area crime:
- 2 people taken to hospital after shooting in Shawnee neighborhood, Louisville police say
- 26-year-old man identified as 1 of 2 men shot and killed at Louisville night club
- Man shot near UofL while trying to stop someone from breaking into car, Louisville police say
- 'When is it going to stop' | 5 people killed in shootings on Mother's Day weekend in Louisville
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