Hammond officials are considering how to reduce gun violence, following this month's shootings at Martin Luther King Park. Police say Jullius Brooks, 39, was shot to death at the park's basketball courts on August 13, just two days after another shooting left two people injured.
Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. told the city council Monday that the courts will remain closed "for a while." "I didn't have a choice. It's a dangerous situation. It's a jam-packed park, and I love the fact that it's jam-packed. We spent money to make it jam-packed, so the fact that people are getting killed in Dr. Martin Luther King Park is not a good situation," McDermott said.
But Brooks' aunt, Hope Brooks-Comer, said the closure came too late for her nephew. "You know, the [first] shooting happened on a Thursday. Two people were shot. Then they had a shootout on Friday. Nobody got shot, thank God, then. But on Saturday, they took my nephew's life, and he was 39 years old," Brooks-Comer told council members.
She said she'd like to see more security at the park before the courts reopen, but McDermott said a police officer had just been there moments before the shooting happened, with no apparent deterrent effect.
To come up with a longer-term solution, city officials will hold a community meeting next Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. at the Ophelia Steen Center. "We know the situations and the problems that we have in our city, but we want to come up with solutions so that we can continue to thrive, that we can continue to have our parks open," said city council member Katrina Alexander.
A prayer service will also be held at the Martin Luther King Park basketball courts this Thursday at 5:00 p.m.
