PITTSBURGH — There are renewed calls to stop the violence after a double homicide in the city’s Hill District early Wednesday morning.
Cameron Blue-Gray, 16, and Robert Freeman Jr., 33, were found shot to death near Webster Avenue and Somers Street just after 3 a.m.
>>> Teen, man killed in double shooting in Pittsburgh’s Hill District
“It is absolutely possible to overcome this violence,” said Rev. Paul Abernathy, the CEO of the Neighborhood Resilience Project.
The Trauma Response Team, with the Neighborhood Resilience Project, was going door to door in the wake of the tragedy. They check in on the community after homicides across the county.
“I was absolutely devastated,” Abernathy said. “I cannot describe the level of pain and heartbreak that is in our community tonight.”
Rev. Abernathy said the Trauma Response Team helps provide comfort and resources. They’ve been doing this work in the community for the last six years.
“In these times of crisis, they embrace the opportunity actually, to receive support,” he said. “We have gone too long in our society, in our communities where people have experienced such tragedies without any kind of support. This is a time for us to comfort one another, to support one another, to be there for one another and to continue the work not only of healing but also towards peace.”
Police said the deadly shootings of Freeman and Blue-Gray are connected.
Pittsburgh Public Schools offered their prayers and condolences to Blue-Gray’s family, saying he was a student at Pittsburgh Milliones Prep last school year.
Wednesday’s gun violence is the third shooting in as many months in that same area of the city. It follows a shooting by a bar in August where five people were injured by gunfire.
About a month later, three people were shot, and two of them died.
This latest violence has left the community shattered.
Rev. Abernathy said it’s going to take the entire community working with law enforcement to stop the bloodshed.
“This incident strengthens our resolve to address the violence in our community,” he said. “We are committed to robust initiatives to undermine the violence and build a community that is more resilient, more healthy.”
Police are investigating what led to the double homicide and if the victims shot each other.
No arrests have been made yet. Detectives are also looking into if there was a third person involved in the shooting.
Anyone with information is urged to call police.
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