MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After a weekend of violence that claimed the lives of two young girls and sent multiple people to the hospital, Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong held a press conference Monday to address concerns across the city.
He said the violence this weekend is heartbreaking.
A 15-year-old girl shot and killed while sleeping her bed, and a seven-year-old girl killed while simply playing in her front yard.
“It certainly concerns us,” he said. “The unfortunate part is that two young people have lost their lives and those two families have been completely devastated.”
Armstrong said his department has no plans to change any of their policies or add any programs despite the young girls’ deaths.
He said crime was actually down throughout the city.
“I hate that this has to overshadow that we’ve had a reduction in crime,” he said. “We’ve had a 6% reduction this year compared to the same time last year.”
Instead he called on the community and encouraged faith based groups to step up.
“Certainly we can always do more and we can always try to accomplish more,” he said.
Armstrong continued by saying it’s important the youth get involved in the community specifically the mayor’s summer jobs program.
“It’s unfortunate that there are those that won’t seek those opportunities and won’t take advantage of them,” he said.
WREG reached out to the department for the number of juveniles who have been victims of gun violence but have not reached those statistics.