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City leaders, community discuss ongoing gun violence in Springfield

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SPRINGFIELD — A community pleaded with its leaders to do something about the violence in Springfield Tuesday night.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, those who attended the Springfield City Commission meeting agreed that more needs to be done when it comes to violence in the city.

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Six people have been killed in Springfield in 2025, according to the city’s law director, Jill Allen. A total of six were killed last year, and 11 were killed in 2023.

David Rose was one of the community members who spoke out against gun violence at Tuesday’s meeting.

His son, Randy Graham, was shot and killed after a party in the 900 block of Elder Street on May 14.

“Can we get a moment of silence for all of the gun victims for the last two weeks in Clark County, please,” Graham said.

He doesn’t think the city is doing enough to stop the gun violence.

“You guys don’t understand the hurt until it hits home,” Rose said.

Commissioner Krystal Brown said gun violence does hit home for her.

“As a child, I saw one of my brother’s friends shot and killed. And I saw him running home as his blood dripped on the sidewalk and he died on his way to his house,” Brown said.

She added that it upsets her hearing people say commissioners are not taking gun violence seriously.

“What y’all don’t understand is that they’re my students. Every time I get a text message, I ask Bryan, ‘What are their names?’ And every time I open up the offenders list for the juvenile detention center, there are 17 kids, 9 or 10 of them are mine,” Brown said. “So if you think that I wake up every single day and serve these, serve these kids, that that just goes away when I come to the part-time job at night, that is insanity to me.”

Brown pointed the blame at the city, the state, and the country, saying they keep putting a band-aid over the real problem.

“We don’t address poverty, and we don’t address systemic racism, and those things play directly into it,” Brown said. “To the gentleman whose son passed, I so deeply apologize, sir, for your loss. I have no words that I can even imagine to comfort you at this time. But I understand what you are going through.”

Rose said he doesn’t think there is much for kids in Springfield to do, so they end up getting involved in violence.

However, city commissioners listed several things kids can do for free this summer and are working to get a full list together.

News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.

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