Mayor in Orange Mound: ‘We cannot give up on our city’
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There were heavy emotions as people in the Orange Mound community said public safety is their number one concern and told officials something needed to be done about it.
“I think our hearts are heavy, it’s concerning, it’s frustrating,” Mayor Paul Young said.
On Tuesday, Mayor Young continued his ‘One Memphis’ tour as he sets out to hear from people in the community. This time at the Orange Mound Community Center.
The meeting comes just two weeks after a mass shooting at an Orange Mound park and less than a week after another deadly deputy-involved shooting.
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“I know it’s painful, but we can not give up on our city,” Mayor Young said. “We can not give up on our community.”
In regards to the mass shooting, Interim Police Chief CJ Davis said her department is still going through video provided by the community but is narrowing down suspects.
“With 200 or so people in the park, approximately 18 people of interest if not more,” Davis said.
“Our teams are working hard to hold those individuals accountable for the harm that they have caused this community,” Young said.
One by one, Orange Mound residents made their voices heard, asking Mayor Young and others questions about crime, blight and what they are doing to help the youth.
“That’s part of the budget we are producing, in our budget we have outlined opportunities for us to get more game rooms in our community centers all throughout the city, not just one but every community center,” Young said.
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One of the people who spoke was Jennifer Fason, the mother of 22-year-old Chalmar Fason, one of the victims who was fatally shot at Orange Mound Park.
She spoke directly to Mayor Young and the Orange Mound community calling for change to make not only Orange Mound but Memphis safe.
“Y’all are doing a good job keep it up, don’t fall short they want us to fall back, we not gone fall back we gone keep going forward,” Fason said. “We gone fight this through not for only Orange Mound, but Memphis period.”
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