LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville community is still reeling from a shooting in the parking lot of a JCPS high school as a football game was happening feet away.
Police say gunfire hit two juveniles on PRP High School’s campus, and they’re actively searching for suspect(s) and a motive.
Will Pitts tells WHAS11 News his 17-year-old cousin Aaron, also a JCPS student, is in critical condition at UofL Hospital, going through another surgery Monday after being shot in the leg.
“There are a lot of guns on the streets, in the hands of children. And once that happens, you tend to get results like these,” Pitts said. “To see my cousin in there fighting for his life… I’m one of many people in the city of Louisville who have experienced this.”
Pitts, like so many in the city, are fed up with the persistent gun violence – especially those that impact kids. He leads a nonprofit called Shoot Balls Not Guns that works to prevent youth violence.
He says tragedy like this motivates him to strengthen his advocacy work, even in the midst of pain.
“It 100 percent enhances my mission because it hit home this time,” Pitts told WHAS11 News. “This is a mission that I’m going to stand on, and I won’t waver from it because somebody has to speak up, and it has to be a voice that people respect.”
Police say the other shooting victim is recovering from ‘non-life threatening’ injuries.
LMPD is asking homeowners living in the nearby neighborhood to check their security cameras for any evidence that would help make arrests.
LMPD says it was around 7:15 p.m. Sunday when JCPS Police working security called them for assistance with crowd control at the football game. Authorities say shots then rang out within an hour.
Meanwhile, just before the shooting, JCPS police made an arrest in a separate case on PRP High’s campus.
22-year-old Damon Williams is charged with illegally carrying a gun on school property and having a gun as a convicted felon.
State Representative Jared Bauman, who represents the area, tells WHAS 11 the recently passed Safer Kentucky Act will help in these cases.
“Under the new law, these types of crimes where we have guns involved that are possessed illegally, these folks are not going to be eligible for any type of early release,” Bauman said. “And those measures are going to have an extraordinary impact to help ensure we keep our community safe.”
The school district tells WHAS11 News that five JCPS police officers were working security at the game.
People living in the nearby neighborhood say they heard as many as six consecutive gunshots, followed by the frantic sounds of crowds rushing to safety and under the bleachers for cover.
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