Community members & family of girl shot in the head hold anti-violence meeting, as she undergoes multiple surgeries
Community members & family of girl shot in the head hold anti-violence meeting
By Web staff
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MAILI, Hawaii (KITV) — On Wednesday evening on the west side of Oahu, family and friends of Richianna DeGuzman held a gathering for peace in the community.
The 17-year-old is still fighting for her life after being shot in the head a week and a half ago.
Wednesday’s meeting took place near the site of the shooting at Ma’ili Community Park.
Oahu resident Anela Kiai Hudson said, “I don’t have any personal relation to Richianna, but being part of the community, being we were so close to where the incident happened, I felt strongly that it was something we needed to talk about as a community, it really does take a village for everyone to be safe, it takes every single one of us in this community to make sure these things don’t happen again, that we’re aware and knowledgeable of how to react in situations like that, the only place I knew to turn was to Pastor Allen.”
Pastor Allen Cardines Jr. told KITV4, “The best advice is keep caring, care about each other, care about the place, love God, love each other and that’s the special sauce, to make Hawaii a better place.”
“It’s no secret that there’s a lot of darkness out there, but darkness is not the problem, lack of light is, so we need to be the light, the life, the change that we want to see out there in the community”, Pastor Allen added.
Members of HPD spoke at Wednesdays meeting as well.
Some of the primary concerns discussed included guns being stolen, left unattended, and being taken without permission. Beyond that, most of the recent gun violence in the Waianae area involved underage people that were not legal gun owners. Police emphasized if an adult legally owns a gun and their child takes it, it’s now an illegal gun, because he or she has no right to be touching that weapon or using it, and to please be aware of that responsibility.
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