Rising concerns over youth and gun violence in Statesboro

STATESBORO, Ga. (WTOC) - Statesboro police say they’re growing more concerned about violence involving children and teens in their community.

Residents that WTOC spoke to say the small community is still healing from two tragedies that happened back-to-back in May.

That’s when two children lost their lives in separate incidents involving guns.

SEE: GBI investigating deaths of man, 9-year-old child in Brooklet

SEE: 4-year-old dies in shooting at Hamptons Apartments, Statesboro police say

Statesboro Police Chief Mike Broadhead says now a growing concern is teenagers possessing handguns.

SEE: Student at Statesboro High detained after bringing weapon to school

“Generally, we think these guns are being traded and so they are probably stolen firearms,” said Chief Broadhead.

Statesboro Police officers say they have taken two handguns off of juveniles in the past week alone.

One was in a public parking lot, and another was during a planned safety check at Statesboro High School.

“Typically, we don’t find any firearms at the high school, but this year we unfortunately did find one. I guess it’s fortunate and unfortunate. It’s unfortunate that someone felt the need to bring a gun to school, and fortunate that we were able to intervene it,” said Chief Broadhead.

Chief Broadhead says the responsibility for keeping kids safe is on the parents.

“Really the responsibility starts at home,” said Broadhead. “The police department, all of our law enforcement agencies, school districts, they all want to be part of the solution. But ultimately, we are not in people’s homes.”