After a deadly weekend on Omaha streets, police will be working with the FBI on a long-term solution to stemming the violence this summer as they step up their presence in north Omaha where five shootings occurred Saturday and Sunday, leaving two men dead.
Residents are concerned and worried. Violence tends to peak in hot weather. This could be shaping up to be Omaha's summer of violence.
The same could've been said for the Fairfax neighborhood 17 years ago, Omaha's first Weed and Seed location at 42nd and Bedford. Delores Smith was there. The attention and increase of police presence here weeded out the criminals and worked to clean up the area.
"It didn't get really bad until about four years later." Smith says it's back to 1991 levels again. "I just work in my yard a lot and stay in my house." Why? "Because of the random shootings."
The gangs aren't going away. In fact, earlier in the year, a Channel 6 News investigation found that Omaha police had been adding 30 new gang members a month to its list. Guns play a big part in the crime, but with it, respect, fear and often murder. So far this year in the Northeast Precinct alone, investigators have seized 100 guns.
"What goes on currently, it’s sad and disappointing that the people have to relate to firearms to solve differences they have with other folks,” says Omaha Police Capt. Alex Hayes.
A plan to add covert cameras, 12 of them, in certain high crime areas may also help quell the violence this summer and perhaps, permanently. "If you're out doing something wrong, someone might be watching you," says Capt. Hayes.
Pastor Cedric Perkins of Pilgrim Baptist Church has fought against violence all his life. He has helped organize marches against violence, so this past weekend was a painful reminder of how much work still needs to be done in Omaha.
"Lot of work for the church community as well as citizens and their neighborhood, the police department, the mayor's office, the news media, everybody has a part to play," says Pastor Perkins.
Earlier this month, a 7-year-old girl was shot while she slept on a couch at her babysitter's home near 10th and Mason. Some 30-40 shots were fired in the area. A student at King Science was hit by another stray bullet while on the soccer field.
According to police, Leroy Goodwin pulled a gun and shot Michael Moss in a gas station parking lot at 30th and Ames early Sunday morning. Two off-duty police officers working security witnessed the incident and one, 11-year veteran Jarvis Duncan, shot and killed Goodwin.
Mother's Day was only a few hours old. "I know he's gone, but he was the type of person, he's just kind of like a follower, he wasn't a leader at all," said Godwin’s mother Betty Coleman.
More violence followed with the murder of 30-year-old Clenix Martin, shot to death just before 11 p.m. Sunday. Police were called to 16th and Victor where shots had been fired and found Martin. He was rushed to the Nebraska Medical Center, but doctors couldn't save him.
Sixteen-year-old Lee Phillips was shot in the back Sunday evening. His wound was not serious. His parents say he'll be okay, but they worry the gunman may come back to finish the job. Word is the gunman is only 14 years old.
Eighteen-year-old Maurice Dixon was also wounded in the back while walking at 24th and Evans early Sunday morning. His injuries are not considered life threatening.