Local activists are saying enough is enough in reaction to a string of deadly gun violence that started last week in South Florida.
On Thursday, three people were hurt after a gunman hanging out of a car window started shooting outside Casino Miami. The next night, six people were hurt and one was killed in a shooting outside an event in Wynwood.
The violence continued Sunday morning with two people killed and 21 others injured outside a banquet hall in northwest Miami-Dade County. That was followed by a shooting on Miami Beach Monday and another one Tuesday in Golden Glades.
“It’s a crisis going on right now,” said Rene Martinez. “We’re in a serious time.”
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A former MMA fighter and former gang leader turned activist, Martinez ministers to youth as a way to stop the violence.
“I grew up in the streets myself and I lost a lot of my friends,” Martinez said. "They’re dead. I was gang-related my whole life."
Miami rapper turned activist Luther Campbell, known as “Uncle Luke,” calls the recent violence sad.
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“A kid can’t go to a function without getting shot,” Campbell said. “A kid can’t go to a pool party without getting shot.”
He says he’s doing his part, running a youth program in Liberty City.
“We just provide a safe haven for these kids here,” he said.
Campbell says Miami needs solutions now.
“It’s just going to be world war three if people don’t get control of the situation,” he said.
