ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) – Violent crime involving juveniles continues in Allen County. After last weekend , Allen County has seen five fatal shootings this year involving teens under the age of 19.
The Fort Wayne Police Department says this year’s start of teen-involved shootings is worse than previous years. Public Information Officer Sergeant Jeremy Webb says it’s too early to tell if teen involved shootings will continue to rise. Last year, a total of four homicides involved juveniles ages 0 to 17. This year, three homicides fall in that age bracket. Two of the victims were 18 and 19 years old. In 2022, there were only two juvenile homicides.
Fort Wayne police continue to say this is an issue that will take the whole community to fix, not just the police. Other teens can help prevent these crimes from happening to their peers.
“They know the issues going on social media, they know who possibly has a gun, they know relationships who’s beefing with who,” said Sgt. Webb. “We need the public, the families, if there is an issue, you know talk about it tell us. Hopefully, we can prevent it but being silent and letting these things escalate till somebody gets shot is not the solution.”