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West Palm Beach community activist concerned about recent spate of shootings

Posted at 4:35 PM, Oct 23, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-23 18:46:26-04

The sight of police cars and police tape is a sad sign of the times, says Rickey Aiken with Inner City Innovators, a group trying to inspire at-risk youth.

"Most people have lost hope," Aiken says.

He is worried that people will keep dying in the streets of West Palm Beach if nothing changes. "Every time I hear about gun violence taking place in our community, because I have a personal responsibility, it hurts me that more of my young brothers are dying at the hands of a gun."
 
Three shootings in as many days have taken place just blocks from each otheron Sapodilla Avenue in West Palm Beach.

A makeshift memorial rests where 24-year-old Marquell Green lost his life.

"I always hurt when I hear of a person dying at the hands of another person," Aiken says.
 
Green is the 21st shooting victim to die in the city. But violence knows no boundaries.  

Not far away another man died in a Riviera Beach shooting on West 28th Street.

"There were several people standing outside. One person exited the vehicle that was driving slowly by and got out with a handgun and took shots," said police spokeswoman Rose Anne Brown.

Timothy Tatum, 21, is the 10th victim in Riviera Beach.

A weekend of violence in the county has some people wondering when it will stop. 

"Most people don't feel like they have any power over what's happening," Aiken says.
 
If you have information about the shootings, contact Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.