PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Community members against gun violence traveled from 15th and Diamond streets to the Mander Recreation Center by foot, bicycle and car on a "peace ride" Saturday morning.
Whether you personally know someone killed by a gun or not, Rev. Leroy West, director of Parents of Murdered Children Central Philadelphia Chapter, said most Philadelphians have been impacted by the violence.
"It's sad," he said. "You have children who say, 'I don't want to go out and play because I might get shot. I don't want to go to the corner store, somebody might come in and rob a place and I might get shot.' It shouldn't be that way."
13-year-old Symeer Zielgler is one of those kids. "I really don't feel safe going outside," he said.
"I'm actually from Temple. So there's a lot a lot of shootings here and I heard a lot of shootings. So I tried to stay my way out the best I can."
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And activist Danita Bates said the violence is everywhere, including Duckery Elementary School, the starting point of the community peace ride.
"Two students that have passed away from here that were murdered, the most recent one was in March of 2022," Bates said." He was one of our eighth grade honor roll students. So we made sure we honored him for the eighth grade graduation."
14-year-old Quadrice Quarles was just six years old the first time he lost someone he loved to gun violence. He said that's a common experience in North Philadelphia and across the city. Now, Quarles is captain of the Temple Police Urban Bike Team.
"They teach us about bike safety with helmets and have fun," he said.
West and Bates said the impact of the violence reaches very far.
"There's a lot of trauma at home that we don't know about, outside of the home that we're not aware of," said Bates.
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"One of my members ... lost her son in February and she's talking about committing suicide herself," West shared, "so the trauma is real, and the hurt is real."
"And it's citywide," added Bates. "It's nationwide, but the city is really under fire right now, for the last few years."
West took part in the ride in order to raise awareness that help is available for people affected by violence.
"There's resources but a lot of people don't know where they are, how to get a hold of them," he said. "So we want to spread the word and let people know that we're out here."