Before an anti-gun violence meeting even began, gun violence had already started in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Before it ended, more gun violence in Brownsville, with two people shot inside a building. Those people are now recovering at the hospital.

What You Need To Know

  • The people who gathered at the meeting in Brooklyn say they’re often the first to respond after the gunfire, at hospitals and at crime scenes, helping families and communities cope

  • The urgency fueled by recent violence, including the shooting of a 15-year-old on an A train Monday, and the death of another 15-year-old less than two weeks ago at a park playground

  • Citywide, shootings and murders are down, homicides falling nearly 26% compared with last year, according to police data

“It’s shocking. I didn’t even hear it. I noticed there were officers on my floor and I came down and saw a whole lot of officers here out front,” one witness said.

Two shootings, which happened hours apart, unfolded within blocks of a conversation about how to stop exactly this.

Inside, faith leaders, elected officials and community members gathered not for a vigil, but for solutions.

“We are seeing Black and brown communities infected with shooting and killing each other,” Gerald Seabrooks, the president of the United Clergy Coalition, said.

The people who gathered say they’re often the first to respond after the gunfire, at hospitals and at crime scenes, helping families and communities cope.

Now, they’re trying to get ahead of it.

“I’m tired. I’m tired of doing prayer vigils, community outcries,” one person said.

The urgency fueled by recent violence, including the shooting of a 15-year-old on an A train Monday, and the death of another 15-year-old less than two weeks ago at a park playground.

“We’re tired, and enough is enough. So, we decided to come together,” Albert Jamison, the vice chair of United Clergy Coalition, said.

The focus is on getting illegal guns off the streets and young people into something else before they end up in situations like this.

Citywide, shootings and murders are down, homicides falling nearly 26% compared with last year, according to police data.

But for many at the event, that progress feels distant.

“All shootings and murders are down, so I want to celebrate that. That means nothing to you when your loved one is gone because of gun violence,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said.

Now, leaders, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, say they’re looking at where the guns are coming from and how to stop the cycle before it starts.

“We all have our roles, and we have to assume our roles,” James said.

Because for those there, the goal isn’t just reacting to violence. It’s stopping the next siren before it starts.