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Dec 28, 2008 6:35 am US/Eastern
Allegheny Co. Approaches Record Homicide Rate
PITTSBURGH (AP) ―
Allegheny County is approaching its record homicide rate.
Police say 25-year-old Tyre Hill, of Duquesne, became the county's 120th homicide victim after he was shot around 3 a.m. on Saturday outside the Elks Club in McKeesport.
Authorities report that Hill was shot once in the leg and pronounced dead at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital at about 4:30 a.m.
Police say there were numerous witnesses, but they haven't said if anyone has been arrested.
A few days ago 29-year-old Charles Hall became the 119th victim when he was shot and killed in Sheraden.
The county's homicide record is 125 people killed in 2003. So far, 2008 is the second-deadliest year of the decade. Last year, 98 people were killed.
There are a number of police and community groups now working to stop the bloodshed in the city and county.
"Kids are dying now so we need to come together to talk about what we need to do not just after a young person is killed, but what do we need to do on the front end, how can we stop violence in our community," said T. Rashad Byrdsong, of the Community Empowerment Association.
Tim Stevens, with the B-PEP Coalition Against Violence, has developed strategies to help the community bring the violence to an end.
"Everybody must do what they can do, and the parents must become parents," said Stevens. "A lot of the parents anymore are letting their kids do anything, speak anyway, do anything. That is unacceptable. If the kids don't have a parent, then it has to be the grandparent, the uncle, the aunt who takes the responsibility of what their kids are doing, who their kids are being brought up with some morals, with some values."
In addition to the Coalition Against Violence, the Community Empowerment Association has come up with a list of proposals in a publication called a Public Health Approach to Violence Reduction.
Also, Pittsburgh City Council has also approved spending $200,000 for the Pittsburgh Initiative, an anti-violence program to reduce the number of homicides in six months.
(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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