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Belle Glade residents shaken after shooting death of teen, 2 others hurt

Tammy Jackson Moore, co-founder of Guardians of the Glades, hopes to find solutions to gun violence
Posted at 5:18 PM, Oct 23, 2023
and last updated 2023-10-24 09:43:50-04

BELLE GLADE, Fla. — Tucked away in western Palm Beach County, Belle Glade speaks for itself.

Community members could be found talking about something less than pleasant Monday, two days after a violent weekend that left a 15-year-old dead and two other teenagers injured.

"When you hear about something like that, 15, it really really hits you and says that we have a problem and we have to work together to solve it," Tammy Jackson Moore, co-founder of Guardians of the Glades, said.

Deputies said they don't believe the most recent shooting is related to the two others that happened the previous weekend, but for people like Jackson Moore, that doesn't make it less upsetting.

Tammy Jackson Moore, co-founder of Guardians of the Glades, said, "We need to make sure that our children have access to opportunities." Oct. 23, 2023
Tammy Jackson Moore, co-founder of Guardians of the Glades, said, "We need to make sure that our children have access to opportunities ."

"We need to make sure that our children have access to opportunities because, as you said, idle minds, they get into things and they're just children and they're getting into things and we want to make certain that the things that they get into are good things," she said. "And that when you guys come out here, you're coming out here to cover the great things that our children are doing."

Closer to the scene of the shooting, leftover bullet holes tell the story some are still too shaken to speak about. City Commissioner Bishop Kenny Berry was out in Belle Glade on Monday consoling those affected by the weekend shooting.

"We're not against one another," Berry said. "We all love one another, but we have little knuckleheads who really don't understand the value of life."

Berry said he would tell those responsible "to come talk to someone who could come and give you some internal, encouraging advice, and let you know that there's a different way to handle these things, and especially not destroying a life."

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spokesman Teri Barbera said no arrests have been made in Saturday's shooting.