JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 New data is putting a stark number on the impact of gun violence on Jacksonville children.<\/p>\n
An analysis by KFF Health News and The Trace, based on hospital claims data, identified three Jacksonville ZIP codes among the areas in Florida with the highest numbers of children treated for gunshot wounds. <\/p>\n
Together, the three ZIP codes accounted for 159 children treated for gunshot wounds over a six-year period.<\/p>\n
Two of those ZIP codes are in the district represented by Jacksonville City Councilwoman Ju\u2019Coby Pittman. <\/p>\n
Pittman said the numbers are surprising, but she believes addressing the problem will require more input from the communities most affected.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt does, but again, as I said, you know, funding is given to those communities and we\u2019re looking to have a community roundtable,\u201d Pittman said. \u201cI have been meeting with some of the residents, some of those organizations that are in those communities who understand, especially when so many youth have been involved in shootings.\u201d<\/p>\n Pittman said she wants residents and young people to have a greater voice in identifying the causes of violence in their neighborhoods.<\/p>\n She also said there is no single solution to Jacksonville\u2019s gun violence problem. <\/p>\n \u201cAs a community, the city can\u2019t do everything, but I think that we can continue to offer programs to help,\u201d Pittman said. \u201cSo I don\u2019t think that there\u2019s one remedy that fits all because gun violence is not only just in District 10, it\u2019s all over.\u201d <\/p>\n Behind the statistics are families who have lost children to gun violence. <\/p>\n Two-year-old A\u2019hmari Robinson was killed in a domestic dispute in March. The shooting happened in ZIP code 32205, which was not among the three Jacksonville ZIP codes with the highest totals. <\/p>\n According to the analysis, there were 17 gun violence incidents involving children in that ZIP code over the six-year period.<\/p>\n Robinson\u2019s death is one example of how the numbers translate into real families and lasting grief.<\/p>\n Seven-year-old Breon Allen was killed after being caught between two rival street gangs in ZIP code 32209, one of the Jacksonville ZIP codes highlighted in the analysis.<\/p>\n Breon\u2019s mother described the loss as devastating. <\/p>\n \u201cI had such high expectations for my child,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd he was just taken away for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n The data also prompted questions about what city leaders are doing to address the violence.<\/p>\n Action News Jax asked Pittman whether she believes the mayor\u2019s office is doing enough to stop the shootings. <\/p>\n \u201cI think she is,\u201d Pittman said, referring to Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan. \u201cI think that she\u2019s working with organizations that we all invest money into. But it causes, and we need more. You know, it\u2019s never enough.\u201d <\/p>\n Pittman said she plans to continue meeting with residents and organizations in the affected communities as the city looks for additional ways to address youth gun violence. <\/p>\n The Mayor\u2019s Office sent the following statement:<\/p>\n \u201cIt is difficult not to acknowledge the toll gun violence is taking on our children and community. The data showing that ZIP codes 32209, 32208, and 32210 are among the highest in Florida for child firearm injuries reflect what we already know, that violence is not random, but rooted in conditions that have gone unaddressed for too long.<\/p>\n \u201cMayor Deegan believes in community-led solutions like the work of Journey Forward, which is intended to confront the root causes of violence by strengthening the conditions that allow young people and families to thrive.<\/p>\n \u201cJourney Forward invests and collaborates in evidence\u2011based approaches that increase stability, expand opportunity, and reinforce community strengths. The goal is not just to reduce violence in the short term, but to ensure Jacksonville\u2019s children can grow up in communities that are healthy, connected, and free from preventable harm.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are committed to standing with Jacksonville\u2019s families and working hand\u2011in\u2011hand with the community to change the conditions that give rise to violence.”<\/p>\n 159 children treated for gunshot wounds: Jacksonville leaders respond <\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 New data is putting a stark number on the impact of gun violence on Jacksonville…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[982,5228,153718,18613,56464,1376,98873,969,116,118,117,6134,153716,634,1375,87554,24471,153717,51459],"class_list":["post-383479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-action_news","tag-action_news_jacks","tag-charles_griggs","tag-councilman","tag-deegan","tag-donna_deegan","tag-forward","tag-jack","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-journey","tag-kff_health_news","tag-local","tag-mayor","tag-rahmon_johnson","tag-tanika","tag-the_trace","tag-yona_gvino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}