Current:Home > ContactUS attorney pleads with young men in New Mexico’s largest city: Stop the shooting -Elevate Capital Network
US attorney pleads with young men in New Mexico’s largest city: Stop the shooting
View
Date:2025-04-16 08:27:22
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The top federal prosecutor in New Mexico has a message for young men in the community who may be spiraling out of control and feeling trapped in a world of hatred and fear: “The shooting must stop.”
Alexander M.M. Uballez, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, made the comment Wednesday while he announced a new $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice that is meant to help address the root causes of violence in the state’s largest city. The funding will support efforts by Albuquerque’s Community Safety Department and its violence intervention program.
The city has been rocked by recent shootings, including one that left a 5-year-old girl dead after someone fired at a mobile home where she was spending the night. Police renewed their plea Wednesday for anyone with information about the shooting to come forward.
“By centering the safety of those who are most at risk of shooting and being shot, we make the community safer for us all,” Uballez said in a statement.
To those young men in the community, he added: “We will help you if you let us and stop you if you make us.”
The city’s Community Safety Department is separate from the police force and the fire department. Launched in 2021 as the city marked another year of record homicides, the agency provides crisis aid, welfare checks and makes referrals for people in need.
As part of the intervention program, the department’s responders focus on those at the highest risk of becoming part of the city’s cycle of gun violence. Mayor Tim Keller said sending the responders into the community and meeting people where they are can interrupt that cycle and ultimately change lives.
Aside from expanding existing work, city officials plan to use some of the funding to explore the possibility of creating an Office of Violence Prevention, similar to those operating in cities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They say such an office could bring together prevention programs that cover schools and hospitals as well as trauma recovery centers.
veryGood! (364)
Related
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Hot, inland California cities face the steepest water cuts with new conservation mandate
- Alabama naming football field after Nick Saban. How Bryant-Denny Stadium will look this fall
- What is CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity company behind the global Microsoft outages?
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- California judge halts hearing in fight between state agricultural giant and farmworkers’ union
- 2 senior House Democrats believe Biden could leave 2024 race in days
- Alabama naming football field after Nick Saban. How Bryant-Denny Stadium will look this fall
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Here's How to Get $237 Worth of Ulta Beauty Products for $30: Peter Thomas Roth, Drunk Elephant & More
Ranking
- Small twin
- Judge turns down ex-Rep. George Santos’ request to nix some charges ahead of fraud trial
- Meet Keshi, an oncology nurse turned pop star with a massive world tour
- Migrant children were put in abusive shelters for years, suit says. Critics blame lack of oversight
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Prince William and Kate Middleton Are Hiring a New Staff Member—and Yes, You Can Actually Apply
- Some convictions overturned in terrorism case against Muslim scholar from Virginia
- Microsoft outage causes widespread airline disruptions and cancellations. Here's what to know.
Recommendation
Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
NASA beams Missy Elliott song to Venus
Photos capture fallout of global tech outage at airports, stores, Disneyland, more
Paris Olympics see 'limited' impact on some IT services after global tech outage
Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
Drone strike by Yemen’s Houthi rebels kills 1 person and wounds at least 10 in Tel Aviv
Tennessee will remove HIV-positive people convicted of sex work from violent sex offender list
Vermont farmers take stock after losing crops to flooding two years in a row