Dallas Police joined Jubilee Park Community in South Dallas for a national night out event.
This comes on the heels of four separate shootings, all within the same week of each other. Two of them involved children.
Officers and neighbors came together for a night of fun, games, music, and food as Dallas police worked to foster healthy relationships with families in the area.
“They help keep this community safe every day, and we’re here to say thank you,” said Marissa Castro Mikoy, CEO of Jubilee Park Community Center.
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The Jubilee Park Community Center serves roughly 62 blocks of surrounding neighborhoods and some 3,000 residents. In recent weeks, they’ve been rocked by violence and tragedy.
National Night Out at Jubilee Park came just over a week since the fatal drive-by shooting death of a 2-year-old less than a mile away.
The ATF offered a $15,000 reward for information that helped lead to an arrest and conviction of those responsible for killing Zyah Lacy while she stood with her family on Hay Street.
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Several blocks away, the very same week, a young woman, Savannah Rodriguez, died when a man shot through the door of her family’s apartment on Elsie Faye Heggins Street. Police arrested and charged 27-year-old Jeremiah Moore.
Additionally, two more shootings happened around the same time on Foreman Street near Fair Park. One of them involved an 11-year-old victim who survived.
DeVaughn Williams is the health and wellness coordinator at Jubilee. He said the Night Out event was a sign of resilience.
“Everybody is still willing to put their best foot forward out here,” he said. “And so I think it’s important for the kids to see that it’s not something to ignore or turn a cold shoulder to.”
