SAN ANTONIO – Sherri Turner, who has spent her whole life on the East Side, said violence has hit a high.
She called it unacceptable.
"It's like it's a shooting every other day or every day. It's really unnecessary, how they're handling their anger and frustration with each other. Instead of talking it out," Turner said.
Just this month there have been six shootings on the East Side alone. Turner knows firsthand how those shootings ruin lives.
"My son is serving time right now for killing someone. So it affects both families," she said. "He's not here to raise his children because of a choice that he made. We have to pay for that."
She wants her neighbors to know, the violence is not worth it.
"These guys, they think it's cool to shoot? They're not thinking. Put down the guns," she said.
She joined Police Chief William McManus, District 2 Councilman Alan Warrick and community members on foot patrol Monday evening.
They met at The Handy Stop on New Braunfels, where one of those six shootings happened just last week.
The goal for Warrick and McManus is engagement.
"The points of the foot beats are for the officers to be able to engage on a more personal level with the people who work on the beat that they're walking and the people who live on the beat that they're walking. That engagement may lead to information that we may receive, it may lead to people feeling safer," McManus said.
"Because of this, I was given the address of three different drug houses," Warrick said.
McManus recently increased Eastside foot patrol after another spike in violence.
"They started over here in February, and it got so quiet, we pulled them out gradually and as soon as we pulled them out it started up again," he said.
"We know we can't let down our guard again," Councilman Warrick said. "We know the community needs extra resources out here so that we can save the lives of the people out in the community because people are dying."
So now, the police presence is back. McManus explained that some of the shootings involve gang violence and retaliations; however, that's not the motive for all of the shootings.
"It's not random violence, it's targeted violence and we've got the enforcement part down. We've got to engage to a much greater level, community effort," McManus said.
That's something Turner agrees with wholeheartedly.
"There's only so much the police can do. The community has to step in. We have to do our part because it's endangering our lives also. I don't want my grandkids to get killed," she said.
Neighbors, both scared and fired up, stopped during the walk to start a prayer circle. They prayed for an end to the violence and vowed to be part of the change.
It's a vow McManus appreciates and wants to build on.
"We're not giving up, is the message. We're going to continue to do different things. We're going to continue to enforce, we're going to continue to engage. It will eventually stop," he said.