Williamsport Mayor Derek Slaughter on Tuesday sat down for a six-minute video interview with the Sun-Gazette a day following the shooting death of an 18-year-old man and two others who were shot on Memorial Avenue Monday afternoon.

“First, my condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of the deceased individual,” he said somberly, looking into the camera.

“I’ve said this before and will continue to say it – we cannot and will not normalize this violent behavior,” Slaughter added.

Not only was the mayor sorrowful about the shooting death but he also urged the community to come together rather than spending time placing blame, to rally with each other and be a help not a hindrance and to report, even anonymously, if somebody sees something that might be off.

To address violence requires an “all hands on deck” approach, he said.

“No one entity or organization is going to solve these issues,” he noted before naming some of these professionals and which offices in the city and Lycoming County can be contacted.

“It’s the mayor’s office, it’s the police department, the commissioners, juvenile probation, the courts, district attorney, school districts, community agencies, social workers, counselors, therapists – all us have to be rowing the boat in the same direction,” Slaughter observed. “If there is a bottleneck somewhere, that only hinders progress,” he stressed.

He urged there to be absolute coordination on addressing youth and adult violence, with an approach that has to be “synchronized.”

“We cannot just meet to meet, particularly when we are talking about the youth in our community, but it goes for adults as well,” he said.

“We know yesterday two of the three were adults, barely,” he said. “And one was 17, almost an adult,” he said.

“It’s inexcusable, but now is not the time to point fingers, to place blame,” he said, adding “we have to continue to do stuff, and that is both punitive and preventative.”

It starts at home and continues through life

It’s really cradle to career,” he said. “When kids are newborns, we’ve got to provide support and resources to the families – all the way through and including once they get a career or a job, enter the armed forces, or go to college – it’s the whole way through.” There cannot be breaks or gaps in that assistance that “we provide.”

“I’m as frustrated as anyone,” he said. “I have my own children that are very close in age to the ones we continue to talk about.”

“It takes all of us,” Slaughter said. “It really does, and it takes all of us understanding the issues and addressing it,” he said.

Most solutions, he added, require funding.

“We know that, but not all solutions require funding,” he noted.

See something, say something

Another often heard phrase is – “If you see something – say something.”

This goes for whether it is a “parent, a grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, guardian – let us know,” he said. “If something seems off … if your son, your daughter, your grandson, your granddaughter, your niece, your nephew, your son’s best friend brings a gun in the house, or you just feel or think something is off let us know.”

This can be done by reaching out anonymously, he said.

“You can be saving their life. You can be saving somebody else’s life. You could be saving a bunch of people’s lives – you never know.”

“But, he added, “it really is on all of us to say something when we see something,” he said.

“If it turns out that it is nothing, well, at least, we looked into it and we were able to confirm that it was nothing.”

“But, usually when something feels off, it usually is,” he said.

Slaughter also wanted to offer his appreciation and thanks to “our first responders, every day, but particularly yesterday, that showed up to the scene and rendered aid, and I believe there were others out there that assisted and I just want to give my thanks and appreciation to those who helped out, and to those who have reached out as well offering assistance, offering help.”

“That’s really what it is going to take,” he said. “It is just not here in Williamsport, unfortunately, we are seeing this trend around the country,” he said. “And we also see social media trends,” he said.

Toward that social media trend, “In addition to checking your kids’ bedrooms, backpacks, I would also really, really emphasize to be mindful of their social media.”

“And if you see something off on their social media, or they won’t give you access to their social media, that’s usually a very good indicator as well,” he said.

Reach out

“But again, reach out to us . . . reach out to my office . . . any of the offices I mentioned,” he said. “The police, county commissioners, juvenile probation, adult probation, the courts, district attorney’s office, school district, social workers . . . any of us reach out, let us know if you see something. Something feels off, please say something.”