Community activists, religious leaders work to stop gun violence in San Antonio amid recent crime spike

‘We can’t afford to lose another individual,’ says church leader

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio community leaders are trying to get ahead of the spike in crime that’s recently hit our community. There have been at least nine shootings since Sunday in the city.

Last Chance Ministries Pastor Jimmy Robles is putting out a call to churches and organizations to unite forces to stop gun violence in our city.

“A lot of people that just close their doors. They don’t want to do anything about it, and then you see tragedies like this happen,” Robles said, referring to people not reporting crimes.

Robles leads a group of volunteers who visit neighborhoods prone to crime to change the culture of violence and uplift those community members. And he’s not alone.

Stand Up SA is another group of people who are in neighborhoods working to reduce the number of retaliatory shootings and steering troubled youth out of a life of crime.

The call encourages everyone who has a stake in these neighborhoods to get involved and do something before the shootings increase and more blood is shed.

“We have neighbors that are crying, children that are suffering. Why? Because we want to keep our mouths shut,” Robles said. “We should not be afraid. We don’t -- we can’t afford to lose another individual.”


About the Authors

Patty Santos joined the KSAT 12 News team in July 2017. She has a proven track record of reporting on hard-hitting news that affects the community.

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