Victims and local leaders speak up on National Gun Violence Awareness Day

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Friday is National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and victims and local leaders took a stand together.

People around the country wore orange Friday to draw awareness to gun violence and its effect on local communities. The day carried an especially poignant message in Metro Louisville after eight homicides and six shootings over the past two weeks.

In total, there have been 39 homicides and 83 shootings in Louisville in 2019.

"Our communities are our direct connection to one another. Violence breaks that connection, forcing us to be fearful," said District 4 Councilwoman Barbara Sexton Smith, who partnered with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America on Friday, in a news release. "We cannot ignore the tragedy of gun violence and its effects on all of us."

City Hall's Clock Tower will be lit up orange this weekend. So will the Big Four Bridge and the CityPost Kiosks you see downtown.

During a Gun Violence Awareness Day event Friday, Hollan Holm talked about being shot during the Heath High School shooting in Western Kentucky in 1997.

"I looked down at the floor beneath me, and I saw red drops spatter on the white tile," Holm said. "Thinking someone had been pouring liquor on me, I touched the side of my hide, bringing my hand down to see blood on my fingertips. My blood. It was then that I came to the awful realization that I had been shot in the head."

A "Wear Orange Picnic" is set for noon Saturday in Sheppard Park. The event will include a community walk, music, games, face painting, group yoga and exercise classes.