A fatal shooting last Wednesday in the North End’s Chad Brown housing development revived memories of the neighborhood’s history of gun violence.
Terry Robinson, a 22-year-old Providence resident, was fatally shot after attending the arraignment hearing of Justice Andrade, a suspect in the murder investigation of a young man killed in the area in July. Delacey Andrade, Justice’s 21-year-old brother, was wounded in the incident, though he was in “good condition” at Rhode Island Hospital the day after the shooting, the Providence Journal reported.
Justice Andrade pleaded not guilty in the July 19 murder of 20-year-old Ty-shon Perry, who had grown up in the area around Chad Brown. The Journal reported that Robinson and Delacey Andrade sat together with Andrade’s mother at the hearing.
Robinson — who suffered non-fatal wounds from a different shooting outside the Fete Club in Olneyville Sept. 28 — was killed at approximately 11:45 a.m. as he and Delacey Andrade exited a vehicle, the Journal reported.
“There’s always an immediate sense of disbelief” whenever a shooting claims the life of a young person, said Paul Tavares, executive director of the Providence Housing Authority.
Given that Robinson was killed almost immediately after attending the arraignment in court, Tavares said the murder might have been a retaliatory measure and could have taken place anywhere in Providence. “The victims of these shootings are not residents” of the development, he added.
Though the Providence Police Department’s public housing police unit has helped to minimize gang-related violence in the area, Tavares said the city is working to enhance methods, including street lighting and security cameras, to minimize the frequency of violent incidents.
“What might have been resolved with fists is now resolved with guns,” Tavares said. “An incident like this is totally illogical. … It’s tragic, senseless violence.”
Though gang violence might not be uncommon in large cities, incidents like the Chad Brown shooting “shouldn’t be expected,” said Teny Gross, executive director of the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, a local organization focused on reducing gang violence.
Gross said he thinks a variety of factors, including the work of the Providence Police and the Providence Housing Authority, have “really made a difference” in improving the safety of the Chad Brown development. But “we can do a lot more,” he said.
In 1995, the institute implemented Operation Ceasefire, a program to support people at high risk of becoming victims of gun violence and improve targeted enforcement to deter gun violence and gang activity, Gross said.
The institute has street workers who respond to hundreds of violent incidents every year by following up with families of victims and providing resources for gun violence victims post-hospitalization after a shooting.
The organization has also collaborated with Project Safe Neighborhood, a national program aimed at reducing gun violence and gang crime by identifying smaller groups of offenders at higher risk of getting involved in violent crime, Gross said.
Last week’s Chad Brown shooting illustrates that a disproportionate number of young people are involved in cases of gun violence, Gross said.
By promoting preventative measures, such as ensuring that safe recreational centers are available for youth and improving employment programs to target opportunities for young people, Gross said there is a lot that can be done to help reduce violence.
“You need very few young people to generate a majority of the violence,” he said, adding that outreach to this small group of individuals could make a big difference in reducing violence.
ADVERTISEMENT
