TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo City Council member John Hobbs grew up in Toledo and now represents a neighborhood that has seen the homicides of two young people in just a matter of months.
In April, 17-year-old Mark Wortham was shot and killed at a home on Amsterdam Road.
Just down the street, 16-year-old Eric Scott was killed in a shooting Wednesday.
"As I heard about this story, as it popped up on my phone, I could barely even.... My dinner was ruined," Hobbs said. "I went down to my basement, and I was just sitting in the basement by myself trying to understand why young men who looked like me are just ... They don't value each other, they don't value themselves."
Terrance Green, 14, was a freshman at Woodward High School. He was shot and killed Monday in north Toledo.
"No family wants to be going through something like this, especially this time of the year, where your holidays from now on will be associated with the loss of a child," said Hobbs.
In 2021, our records show eight children died by gunfire, with ages ranging from as young as one to 17.
In 2022, our records show only five children died by gunfire, the youngest being seven months old.
This year, so far, 11 juveniles have been killed, including a 16-year-old robbery suspect shot by police.
Save Our Community is a city initiative to reduce gun violence. Hobbs said he has hope for the program and that we need to give the program a chance to work.
"We all would love for it to just magically go away overnight but there are many people that are involved with Save Our Community, different agencies, different people," Hobbs said. "So little by little, as different pieces of Save Our Community puzzle begins to come together, you're going to see a difference in our community."
Scott played football for Springfield. In a show of solidarity, St. Francis De Sales sent condolences through social media. It was summer of 2022 when 17-year-old Marvelous Walton - a football player for St. Francis - was also shot and killed.
MORE FROM WTOL 11: