LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Lexington families are demanding action and calling for an end to gun violence after a recent spike in deadly shootings within the city.
An early-morning shooting Friday on Winchester Road marked the third day in a row that Lexington Police were called to a deadly shooting investigation.
"It has become an every-week thing to where you’re burying a loved one because of gun violence," said Andre Washington, whose 35-year-old nephew Lowell Anthony Washington was killed in an overnight shooting on Wednesday.
Lowell Anthony Washington is the second loved one Andre Washington has buried this year and the fourth she's lost to gun violence since August 2020.
"I just want these kids to put these guns down and quit killing one another. I want it to stop. This is terrible," she said.
Washington is the grandmother of 18-year-old former Tates Creek High School player Mykel Waide, who was the victim of a deadly shooting in August.
She said his death pushed her to speak out publicly against gun violence.
"All he wanted to do was go to school. He wanted to go to school and do something positive with his life and he never got that chance," Washington said. "I don't want to see nobody going through the pain we're enduring."
There have been 27 shootings in Lexington since January 2021, according to Lexington Police. 13 of the shootings have been deadly.
Washington said she wants to see more people taking a stance against gun violence, including both the everyday person and elected officials.
"Call me what you want, but I'm gonna keep doing it until God's ready to send me home or until I see a change within our city," Washington said.
And she's not the only one demanding change.
Ida Warford, a mom of three, said she wants to live in a city where she knows her kids will be safe.
"They're shooting in broad daylight and that scares me being a parent," Warford said.
Warford created the Stop the Violence Lex Facebook Group years ago with the hopes of uniting the community to help put an end to gun violence.
While she's always been aware of the dangers, she said recently she's asked her 14-year-old son to stop playing outside as often.
"Bullets don't have eyes or names on them. It will hit whoever it wants to hit," Warford said.
"This is so heartbreaking," said Washington. "We can't take our kids to the park. We can't take our kids to Kroger. We can't take them anywhere because you don’t know what’s going to happen."
"We can't just sit back and let this keep on happening. We can't just keep on losing young kids. We can't keep on losing adults to this," said Warford. "We have to take action."
And while they said they know it'll be a difficult and long battle, both Washing and Warford said it's worth it if they can save even one life.
