GARY | A Gary pastor issued a challenge last week as he stood before an overflow crowd mourning for his 15-year-old granddaughter, the youngest of 14 people shot to death in Gary since July 1.
"Expose who these guys are. Expose them," said the Rev. Chet J. Johnson Sr., grandfather of Daja Brookshire and pastor of New Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church. "Stop hiding these fellows out. Turn them in. If you don't and you keep them in your house, you keep them in your proximity, we'll be right here preaching your funeral, preaching your kids' funeral, and we'll keep doing it over and over and over again."
City officials issued the same message a week earlier, after the city recorded its 34th homicide this year.
Gary has now logged a total of 38 homicides, up from 22 at the same time last year. It's a 72 percent increase.*
The city recorded 46 homicides in all of 2014 and 55 in 2013, police said.
Law enforcement plays a vital role in reducing crime, but so do businesses, the faith community, and residents who are willing to say what they see and serve as witnesses for police, Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said at a news conference Aug. 4.
After a double homicide Aug. 6 and two more shooting deaths late Monday and early Tuesday, Lake County Sheriff John Buncich went to the County Council and received $200,000 to pay overtime to put more county officers on Gary’s troubled streets.
Buncich said the crime wave was caused by “street gangs warring over drugs.”
“White guys come into the city to buy dope, and the gangs are warring over that trade,” he said.
Of Gary’s 38 homicides so far this year, 58 percent are believed to be drug or gang-related, department spokeswoman Lt. Dawn Westerfield said.
“Forty-two percent we consider unknown circumstances, domestic homicide, robbery gone bad, things of that nature,” she said.
Westerfield said the Gary does have a couple of gang factions that are warring, but she declined to discuss specifics.
“Anytime there is criminal gang presence there is criminal gang activity, and unfortunately, that activity is often violent,” she said.
The Police Department is working hard to stem the violence, she said.
“We’re drawing on all available resources to serve the citizens in the best way possible,” she said. “We take this very seriously. We take any act of violence very seriously.”
Westerfield said the percentage of people engaging in violent activity is small compared to the number of law-abiding, decent residents in Gary.
“There are many, many, many wonderful citizens all across Gary,” she said. “And unfortunately, I think that gets overshadowed sometimes by some of the bad behavior and the violence.”
The more ownership people take in their community, the better, she said.
“The most important thing is that people are getting us the information,” she said. “Whether they’re calling the tip line or calling and leaving their name, our community is a valuable source of information.”
An anonymous donor is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of Brookshire's killer, police said.
Anyone with information about recent homicides is asked to call the Lake County/Metro Homicide Unit at (219) 755-3852.
Anyone with information about crime can call (219) 881-1260. To remain anonymous, call (866) CRIME-GP.