ATLANTA — Dr. Bernice King was among faith and community leaders who showed up Friday night along the 17th Street bridge in response to the deadly shooting near Atlantic Station.
"I think about all the work my parents did in this society to try and move us in the direction towards a non-violent culture when I see things like this, especially with young people it’s very troubling," explained Dr. King, CEO of The King Center.
Dr. King pointed out that there are no easy fixes.
"Anyone looking for this to stop tomorrow, that’s not going to happen but what we can do is begin to coordinate our efforts and really strategize about how do we effectively diminish, it will never totally go away but we can diminish it," Dr. King said.
One of the faith leaders at Friday night's vigil was Reverend Wendy Torres, a Youth Minister out of Lithonia. Reverend Torres believes the key to diminishing gun violence among this generation is for everyone to step up.
"We can’t say 'Oh look at these kids, no those are our children,' and we’ve got to do something about it," Rev. Torres said.
She said we can't just keep being reactive, we must stay proactive. Something Dr. King also pointed out.
"When we embrace nonviolence as a lifestyle it begins to transform our whole society," Dr. King said.
Besides faith leaders, other community members showed up on Friday night. Even Hip-Hop Artist Young Dro. A father himself to a 7-year-old, he pointed out parents have to step up.
"I think we should go in those rooms, the doors are closed go in their rooms and see what your child is doing. Grab the phone, monitor music, monitor all these things. Pay more attention to your child," Young Dro explained.
He also pointed out we have to do something to get these kids to put down the guns. Dr. King agreed.
"We as adults have not done the right thing with gun responsibility," Dr. King explained.