HAMPTON, Va. — Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck says over the past two years, he and many other leaders in Hampton Roads have discussed ways to prevent gun violence.
He says they addressed many issues related to it but one they didn't tackle is the trauma it leaves.
"We've looked at other aspects of gun violence, gun violence prevention," he said. "We never really looked at the trauma and its impact on children, even older adults."
Tuck says in many areas, neighborhoods are becoming immune to scenes of violent crime.
"One day there is yellow tape that is surrounded in an area and the next day there are children that are playing on that area where somebody's been shot or somebody's been killed," he said.
Now, Tuck is holding a virtual forum to discuss the trauma that comes from the violence. He's hoping the conversation will provide communities the resources they need to heal.
One of those resources is the victims assistance program through Hampton's Commonwealth's Attorney. Tuck hopes the discussion will lead to more efforts to tackle trauma across Hampton Roads.
"What we're hoping to do is to take what we're learning from this and assist the other mayors and trying to understand that you've got to do something to address the trauma that's a result of the gun violence," Mayor Tuck said.
The virtual meetings starts at 7 p.m. on the City of Hampton's Facebook page.