PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Bullets basketball team is bringing people together in hopes of ending gun violence in the city, as an upbeat, fun atmosphere took over the Homewood YMCA Friday night. The message shared was serious.
Their annual “Stop the Violence” memorial game at the Homewood YMCA paid tribute to several people shot and killed in that community in recent years.
“This violence has become like the new pandemic, honestly,” said Shayla Holmes with the Greater Pittsburgh Coalition Against Violence.
Team founder and CEO Marcus Robinson started the initiative in 2015 after his friend Deion Nesbitt was murdered in Homewood.
Marcus Robinson, Founder and CEO of Pittsburgh Bullets:
“I try to share my love for the game with others to help us continue to come together and wake up and make positive decisions everyday,” said Marcus Robinson, Founder and CEO of the Pittsburgh Bullets.
While played every year, this year’s game comes at a critical time, on the heels of a shooting at Westinghouse Academy earlier this week.
“I’m heartbroken. There’s not really much you can say. There’s but so many things you can do, but if you have the opportunity, you have to continue.”
For Robinson, preventing gun violence is personal.
Not only because he’s seen multiple friends killed, but he too almost lost his life in 2011.
“Being a survivor, I commit my life to doing as much as I can to prevent those things and educate young people on how to not be in those situations,” Robinson said.
With so many families in attendance Friday night, Holmes said it’s the perfect opportunity to educate young people.
“The younger we get them, the better path they can be on,” she said. “The more we have support of the families and the parents, we’ll get more of the youth involved on a better path.”
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
TRENDING NOW:
©2023 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
