Parents were back at Gibson Park Saturday to cheer on their children just one week after a gunman opened fire during their previous youth football game.
Cheerleaders, football players and family members filled the newly-renovated park in Overtown. Mother Tiffone Bethel, whose two sons play football at the park, told NBC 6 South Florida she was very upset over last week’s incident.
"All these innocent kids out here, it had me so upset to the point to where I couldn't do nothing but try to get my kids and make sure they were safe," she said.
Bethel’s younger son played in Saturday’s game.
"They spent all this money on this park for our kids,” Bethel told NBC 6 South Florida. “Leave the drama elsewhere. This is where the kids can come out here, feel safe, and enjoy themselves and have fun."
Bethel's message was similar to that of Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, who also attended Saturday's game. She said it was necessary for kids to feel safe in certain environments.
"There's two places I will say that it's really, really important for our kids to feel safe,” she said. “That's their schools and their parks. Everything else we understand that that's just some of the elements that we have to deal with, but every time a kid steps on the park, they need to feel that they're in a safe place."
Local
Last week’s shooting resulted in a suspect at large and three people injured. Police who attended Saturday’s game said they plan to increase law enforcement presence throughout the football season.
"If you come to the park thinking you're going to do something stupid, you might as well stay out because you're going to get caught," said Police Chief Manuel Orosa.
He vehemently promised to work for more security.
"First of all, it's very alarming, and second of all, as a father, I would be afraid that something like that would happen in front of my kids,” he said. “I really, really want to be able to provide enough security so that this doesn't happen ever again."
