MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Being proactive on the streets is the goal of groups attempting to put an end to gang violence.
These groups have already had their hands full this year with the rash of violence we’ve seen, but this weekend’s murder of a teenage mother in downtown Memphis is the last straw for one group.
As students at Booker T. Washington prepare to honor their fallen classmate Myneisha Johnson, there are other groups desperate to find peace.
“Should be a wake up call, there should be a loud outcry,” said Delvin Lane. For Lane, a community leader with the 901 Bloc Squad, the bloodshed downtown this weekend is personal. He knew the young, innocent mother Johnson.
Lane helped her turn her life around. Johnson was headed to college, but according to police, Kwasi Corbin stopped that dream.
“We have to figure out these beefs. These community beefs and put a stop to them,” said Lane.
Police said Corbin admitted to firing an assault rifle into a crowd Sunday. Sources said he was shooting at someone from a rival group. Police said they are investigating possible gang connections, among other motives. Lane hopes to bring some of these rivals together.
“Sit these guys down at a round table, search each other and let these guys talk it out,” he explained.
Before it gets to that point, there is a program here at the Shelby County Juvenile Court that hopes to intercept teens from gang life.
“They right there on that edge, and if somebody don’t grab them they gonna be next,” said Jimmy Chambers.
Chambers works with the District Attorney’s Gang Office. He recently started “Camp Chambers,” a juvenile court-ordered program to help teens on cusp of getting lost the system.
Six boys recently graduated from the eight-to -12-week program. Chambers’ goal is for these boys not to end up like the faces posted on the wall of his office who were lost to gang life.
“What I try to do is go into that darkness and see what I can find,” he said.
Right now there are active injunctions in place affecting six gangs in four parts of Memphis. One is based in the Riverview-Kansas neighborhood, and two are in the Dixie Homes area that stretches north of the medical district. There’s another injunction against a gang in a part of Frayser and two more affecting gangs in Binghampton.