MACON, Ga. — The six victims from Saturday night's shootings in Macon were all in their 20s, and that has some people saying it's time to change the culture of gun violence among young people. Two people are speaking up and calling on the community to help.
Jesse Hicks prepares his Baldwin County High School football players for the next season, but off the field, he helps them prepare for life.
"I want them to understand that at the end of the day, Coach Hicks ain't just my coach, he's somebody I can come too, somebody I can turn to," he said.
Being raised by a single mother, Hicks knows how much of a difference it makes to have someone to look up to, which is what he thinks is lacking with young people today.
"We've got to take an active role, when we see things like this happening in Macon in different areas, like shootings and killings by young people, we've got to take it upon ourselves to say, 'hey man we've got to start stepping it back up and close the gap,' and what you give them is real life love," Hicks said.
When Gwenette Westbrooks, President of Macon's NAACP chapter, heard the victims from the Bellevue shootings were all in their 20s, it brought back her experience with gun violence.
"I had a brother who was killed at the age of 19, and it was just devastating to know that, here we got young people, these many young people that have been shot," she said.
She and Hicks agree a community discussion on gun violence is long overdue.
"We have to find a way to reach our young people. We have to find a way to make them understand that there's consequences. We have to talk about how these young folks are getting these guns," Westbrooks said.
"All these kids need somebody to put their arms around their neck, kiss 'em on the cheek and say, 'brother I'm with you, all you have to do is follow me, let me help you navigate this, because you're not navigating this the right way,'" Hicks said.
Pastor Paul Litt from Mount Zion Baptist Church in Macon is looking to help by providing free counseling services to anyone affected by the Bellevue shootings.