Congressman Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. (NY-16) issued the following statement following news that a 16-year-old from New Rochelle passed away after being shot multiple times by a 16-year-old.
Every time another one of our babies is taken too soon, my heart breaks for their futures that will never be realized, their loved ones who will miss them forever, and our community that will feel their absence, we have to ask ourselves, ‘how much more of this will we tolerate?’ ‘How many more of our babies have to die before we address the root causes of violence?’
As a parent, resident of our community, and as an educator for over twenty years, I know what it means and what it looks like to provide wrap-around services and resources to families and students in crisis. Too often, though, violence prevention resources are not given to those who need them, and the resources that are provided fail to reach those who need them the most.
The tragic death of the 16-year-old New Rochelle boy is only made worse by the fact that he was killed by a 16-year-old who was able to get his hands on a gun. The system is failing our youth at every level. We need to do everything in our power to support our youth and their families, address the mental health crisis, and put an end to the influx of guns coming from outside of our state and into the hands of our teenagers. This is unacceptable and cannot be normalized.
In this difficult time, I send my deepest and most heartfelt condolences to the family and our community. I will continue working to put an end to these types of preventable and permanent situations.