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Opinion | We need to do our best to keep Memphis youth out of harm's way | Otis Sanford

Otis Sanford gives his point of view on another weekend full of violence in Memphis and what he thinks the community needs to do moving forward.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It was another weekend full of violence in Memphis – much of it deadly. 

Shootings all across the Bluff City kept police busy and the trauma center at Regional One Health constantly in emergency mode. 

One man – identified as an Atlanta resident – was shot and killed by police – after he allegedly turned and fired at officers while trying to flee an attempted traffic stop. The violence even stretched across the state line to Walls, Mississippi, where a Southaven native who played professional football in Canada was shot to death at a party.

But of all the incidents, the one that stood out for me was the shooting deaths of two juveniles inside a vehicle in Hickory Hill just past 1 o’clock Saturday morning. The victims were a 17-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl. And again, we must ask ourselves why is there so much gun violence in Memphis? What is it about our community that seems to be a breeding ground for life-altering crime?

The juvenile deaths were particularly troubling. Of course, I don’t want to blame the victims. But there are far too many instances in Memphis where young teenagers have no parental supervision – and are in effect raising themselves – in the streets. And it’s heartbreaking. We simply must recommit ourselves to intervening in the lives of our youth and doing our best to keep them out of harm’s way.

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