Now that a violent year in Johnstown has come to an end, community members are ringing in the new year with a new goal: zero murders in 2018.
A peace rally was held Monday, January 1, in the gazebo at Central Park in downtown Johnstown. City leaders, police and residents gathered to pray, sing and discuss their hopes for the year.
One man in attendance, Gregory Jones, lost a son to gun violence in Johnstown in 2016.
“We do not want any more of these killings,” Jones said. “It is my hope and my prayer that we can get our community turned around and get it going in a positive direction.”
In 2017, there were 11 murders in Cambria County. Eight were in the city of Johnstown. Many of the victims were in their late teens or early 20s.
“Children are so unagreeable to each other. If they have a problem with one another they don’t know how to talk it out or walk away. Their solution is to pick up a gun,” Jones said. “There’s no take two when you pick up a gun. When you pull that trigger, you cannot re-chamber that route.”
Jones stood side-by-side with Ntando Gxuluwe, whose sons have been incarcerated for drug and weapons charges.
“I’m honestly addressing us as parents, us as parents to begin the spirit of reconciliation,” Gxuluwe said.
Jones and Gxuluwe said it’s time for parents to set an example for their children.
“We decided not to point fingers, but to join hands and find a solution,” Jones said.
Johnstown police said they can’t solve the city’s problem with violence alone.
“The goal is to stop the violence before the police ever have to respond,” said Johnstown Police Captain Jeff Janciga.
One possible solution discussed at the rally, is the Cure Violence Health Model, which has been used in cities like Baltimore and Chicago to reduce violence by treating it like a disease: the only cure is to stop the spread.
“It’s time for us as a community to step up and to own the problem and to also own the solution,” said Justin Capoullez, a Johnstown resident who said he’s lost friends to violence in the city.
Jones said there can be zero murders in 2018 if parents, city leaders and neighbors get involved with the city’s youth.
“It’s 2018 now. It’s a new day,” Jones said. “Let’s make it great on purpose”