SOUTH BEND — The South Bend community says it’s time for violence to stop as it grieves the death of another young person as a result of gun violence.

Alyyus Enoexpettiford, 16, had just finished his freshman year at Riley High School and was on summer break when police reported that he was found suffering from apparent gunshot wounds in the 500 block of East Victoria Street on June 14. Enoexpettiford was transported to the hospital and died from his injuries.

As of June 21, police had not released any suspects’ names and continue to investigate the shooting.

South Bend Common Council President Sharon McBride shared memories July 18 by phone of Enoexpettiford, her great-nephew. She described him as a very respectable young man who was loving and kind.

“He loved people,” she said. “He was a friendly kid, positive and always looking for the best in life.”

Riley High School Principal Shawn Henderson reached out to Riley parents in a letter he released on social media to offer thoughts and prayers to Enoexpettiford’s friends and family during this difficult time. He encouraged families to have open conversations about their feelings and concerns.

Days later, on June 17, Enoexpettiford’s family, friends and fellow community members gathered for a vigil in his memory.

Though community activist and retired police officer Lynn Coleman didn’t know the family personally, he said he attended the vigil out of concern for the young life lost.

“This violence mess has to stop,” Coleman said. “It goes on and on.”

Coleman spoke of this “tough time,” referencing three South Bend shooting incidents, and a shooting on the bypass where the SBPD is still determining if the incident occurred north or south of the state line. These incidents resulted in one death and six injuries.

Another South Bend shooting occurred June 20 on Parry Street that resulted in the hospitalized of two women for their injures and the death of 28-year-old Jasmine Swanson. The condition of the two injured women has not been released. On Friday, June 21, the South Bend Police Department announced that Rya Barnes, 22, had been identified as a suspect and arrested Thursday afternoon.

“We have to stand up against violence on all levels,” Coleman said.

Despite this influx of recent shootings, SBPD Chief of Police Scott Ruszkowski told the Board of Public Safety at its June 18 meeting that “it feels like 100 shootings, but that is not the case,” adding that it’s still not good news because the amount is above zero.

The police department released their year-to-date of criminally assaulted shootings, comparing 2024 to 2023.

Criminally Assaulted Shooting Incidents:

2024 YTD: 22

2023 YTD: 29

Criminally Assaulted Shooting Victims:

2024 YTD Fatal = 4

2023 YTD Fatal = 9

2024 YTD Non-Fatal: 31

2023 YTD Non-Fatal 33

A call to action

Four days after Enoexpettiford’s death, McBride said her family is still grieving.

“It’s still very difficult and shocking,” McBride said. They’re taking it one day at a time, she said.

As South Bend Common Council President, McBride said she’s been trying to address this on-going battle, even before gun violence took one of her loved ones.

“We’ve been trying to work with ways in the community on how to curb gun violence,” she said.

For Mychael Winston, the director of Goodwill SAVE Outreach, who regularly interacts with the community to form preventive measures against gun violence, Enoexpettiford’s death was different, he said, because it was so tragic.

“Even (for) the most hardened or experienced professionals, this rocks you,” Winston said. “We try to make sense of things and use strategies, like the GVI strategy, to confront violence a specific way, and then you have things like this happen that can throw things into disarray.”

He said random acts of violence, such as this, make his team go back to the drawing board, but they continue to persist.

They’ll continue to be active in neighborhoods deemed as “focus areas,” he said, and spend time engaging the community and continue to be steadfast.

“We see that violence doesn’t know an age,” Winston said. “It’s not like violence is only for those (ages) 21 to 24 or 30 and up. It can attack anyone.”

Winston said their call to action against violence is a total community effort.

“Law enforcement goes out and fights hard,” Winston said. “We understand that. A lot of what law enforcement does has to be reactionary.”

Winston said the police department’s community resource officers are proactive and engage with the community, which is great, he said, but he added, “The duty lies with all of us.”

Email Tribune staff writer Camille Sarabia at csarabia@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend again vows action after gun violence kills another teen