A Senseless Killing in Central Falls: Enough Is Enough!

Central Falls, R.I. —   A late-night shooting on Washington Street in Central Falls has left one young woman dead and a man critically injured. A targeted act of gun violence that has once again shaken a community. According to news reports. Pawtucket school officials identified the victim as Nayasia, a Shea High School graduate whose life was cut tragically short.

Authorities say there is “no threat to public safety.” But when a young person is gunned down in the middle of our metro area, the threat is not over. It lingers in the trauma left behind.  Students, families, and friends across Central Falls and Pawtucket are grieving today. Support services are being made available, but no amount of counseling can erase the pain of losing someone so young, so suddenly, and so senselessly. 

And don't get is twisted.  This is not just a Central Falls issue. Our cities, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Providence, share schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and lives. When violence erupts anywhere, the impact ripples everywhere.

Gun violence is not an unsolvable mystery. It is the result of preventable failures. Access to illegal firearms, lack of conflict intervention, and insufficient community support.  

If Rhode Island truly wants to protect its youth, we must invest in:

• Violence-prevention programs
   
• Mental-health access
   
• Support for at-risk youth
   
• Community outreach and intervention
   
• Strong enforcement against illegal guns 

These aren’t lofty ideas. They are proven strategies used successfully in other cities.  

Nayasia deserved more than to become another headline. Her family deserves more than condolences. And our communities deserve more than repeated tragedies. 

 We must not accept gun violence as the cost of living in America.  We must demand change. Now!