Community members hold vigil for gun violence victims, call for new approach from law enforcement

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Community members gathered at Reid Chapel AME in Columbia on Wednesday for a drive-in vigil to honor victims of gun violence.

MORE Justice, which stands for Midlands Organized Response for Equity and Justice, organized the vigil in response to the number of shootings in Richland County.

The leaders stressed that on September 13 there were five shootings in just one day in Richland County, and the focus of the vigil was to pray for those taken last year by gun violence and to call out to law enforcement to bring greater trust to communities to stop it from happening.

Empty chairs sat on each side of the podium as a stark reminder of all the lives lost to gun violence last year in Columbia.

“We need to do something different to address such a serious problem,” Rev. Adam L. China of Adams Northeast AME said. “Our community needs a new approach.”

Clergy who spoke during Wednesday’s vigil said the answer is a program called “Group Violence Intervention.” They said it’s a program that would build greater trust between law enforcement and the community through relationship building between police, the community, and those impacted by gun violence…..