Pawtucket Mayor: Fatal Shootings 'Heavy Loss' On Community

PAWTUCKET, RI — On Saturday afternoon, 20-year-old Leonardo Tavares was found shot and killed inside his car on Randall Street. And on Sunday night, a 19-year-old woman was fatally shot inside a car parked behind a house at Japonica Street.

Mayor Donald Grebien on Monday expressed condolences to the families of the victims, urged anyone with information to contact police, said his community liaison, Kassandra Florez, will be offering support, and stated that the city is working with the Providence-based Nonviolence Institute.

Grebien's statement:

"The past two days have been a heavy loss on our community. It has been an even greater loss for the families of the victims of the two fatal shootings. After speaking with those families, my heart continues to break for their loss and, as a father, I cannot imagine the pain they are in. They are all in our prayers.

We are all grieving. I have spoken with many community leaders over the last couple of days, and we all know that this cannot continue to happen. The Pawtucket Police Department and my administration want to hear from the community and help to address this issue. We will continue working with the Nonviolence Institute to help the families of the victims, and my team, including Community Liaison Kassandra Florez, will be there for them in this process.

Pawtucket is our home and should be safe for our families. Shootings like the ones that have happened this weekend need to be addressed. I ask that anyone in the community with any information please reach out to the Pawtucket Police Department or Kassandra. We need to heal as a community and through a committed effort we can find lasting solutions to the violence that has occurred."

Patch has reached out to Grebien's office seeking details about the city's working relationship with the Nonviolence Institute. The organization works at the street level within the community to prevent violence before it happens.

On Monday, Rhode Island's entire U.S. congressional delegation joined Governor Dan McKee, Attorney General Peter Neronha, and Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza for a media event hosted at the Providence-based non-profit. Each of the men lavished praised upon the organization's work as they described gun-control legislation and spoke of the need to provide young men with opportunity.

However, Boston Globe columnist Dan McGowan subsequently wrote that the Nonviolence Institute is struggling with a lack of funds, and is down to only five street workers. McGowan opined that officials who decry gun violence should direct some funding to support the organization's work at this time.