LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — This week, Lexington had its 37th homicide of the year. That number ties the record-breaking number set in 2021. The violence prompted Rabbi Shlomo Litvin to go into communities impacted by the gun violence with coffee and cookies to hear how the residents felt.
He says, "No one is going to have a better understanding of what's going on than the people it directly affects. Hearing from a woman who in the last five years, has lost three family members to violence in this city. Hearing from someone who says, I try to be a voice to impact the violence."
So far, Rabbi Litvin has been to three locations around Lexington. He started his journey on Dale Drive and ended it on Oxford Circle. He says this is something he wants to continue in the weeks ahead.
"I don't know what this is yet. I knew that I couldn't keep doing what I was doing, because it wasn't enough, and we need to do more."
Justin Brown was at work at Bypass Rental when police came in asking if he'd seen or heard anything from the shooting down the street on Jennifer Road.
"It's a scary thing, you know. To think that people are losing their lives so, so...over, you know, things that shouldn't be going on," says Brown.
Brown shared that in 2020 his niece was shot in Lexington and survived. He says he'd share this message with other families of victims.
Brown says, "You know there's compassion for it, but it's senseless to be dealing with. And get involved in your kids' lives, you know get involved in your families lives. Just be there for them."
Brown and Rabbi Litvin agree that it'll take the entire community to end the uptick in violence.
Rabbi Litvin says, "The rabbi famously said...that in a place of great darkness, a small light can cast a great glow."
He is looking for a community solution. To a community problem.
