What’s Killing Us? Gun violence rips through community

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis father starting trade school to provide for his children was shot and killed June 6.

Ja’lon Brooks became one of more than nearly 600 homicide victims in Memphis over the last 18 months.

“I’m mad. I’m confused. I’m disappointed,” his mother, Ladena Rubin, said as she wiped away tears. “What if I would have stopped at the store? Maybe I would had been there when it happened.”

After her other son called her with the news, she pulled up his location on her phone and rushed back to the gas station on South Third Street that she passed on her way home.

“When I got there, they were just putting up the crime scene tape,” she said.

Police told Rubin her son and another man, who just got out of prison, were walking down the street when someone opened fire. Brooks tried to run away, but collapsed in a parking lot.

He died before Rubin could see him. He was only 21.

Police have yet to find the shooter.

“He wasn’t the target. That’s basically all I know,” she said. “I’m numb at times. Can’t sleep. Can’t think. Can’t eat.”

She’s not alone. Countless families, friends, schools and neighborhoods have been forever changed by gun violence.

Brooks is one of more than nearly 200 homicide victims so far this year. A majority of those were killed by gunfire. That’s not counting the hundreds of shootings that sent someone to the hospital.

“It is startling,” Dr. Andy Kerwin said. “It’s probably about four a day.”

Kerwin is chief of the Regional One Trauma Center. He said the sights and sounds in the operating room are horrific.

“Our gowns and gloves are covered with blood, and it drips down off the table, and it gets on our shoes. There’s puddles of blood on the floor, and you’re standing in them,” he said. “It’s loud, because one person is here talking to the first patient and they’re talking to second patient. They’re in pain. Sometimes they are yelling.”

He said the next part is even worse.

“You tell family members when their loved one died. Sometimes you cry with them. Sometimes they hug us. Sometimes they are really angry,” he said.

Kerwin said it’s physically and emotionally draining.

“Burnout is a real thing for physicians, the nurses, the respiratory therapists,” he said.

He believes gun violence is a public health crisis.

This week, WREG Investigators are looking at the issues harming our community and possible solutions.

Kerwin and other medical experts said in order to treat gun violence, the community must look at it like an infectious disease. You would research and determine root causes, test prevention strategies and prescribe the policies and programs proven to stop the spread.

Take COVID for an example — as the community gave support and prayers to healthcare workers and first responders, money and resources poured in. Medical experts, political leaders, and more coordinated an approach that included lockdowns, mandates, and daily briefings.

“Imagine if we put those types of resources and that kind of information in front of our community,” Shelby County Health Director Dr. Michelle Taylor said.

Taylor said combating gun violence will take more than police.

She applauds city county and nonprofits funding intervention and prevention work, but she said there’s much more work to do. She said even if we started that work now, it would take years to see significant change.

Gun deaths have increased at an alarming rate across the country. Since 2006, it’s been the leading cause of death for Black youth. Recently, it became the number one killer among all children and teens.

“Now it’s an issue because it spilled over into other places. So we also have to do some self-reflection work as a community and ask why that is,” Taylor said.

She said more research will help the community understand what issues got us to this point, like education, poverty, and access to mental health care.

Research has been lacking, because guns have been a political football. It took two decades for Congress to lift a ban against any funding earmarked for gun safety.

“How do you expect us to make significant strides to start to solve this issue when you’ve got policies in place that work that are diametrically opposed to solving these issues?” Taylor said.

Last month, the U.S. Surgeon General officially declared gun violence a public health crisis and called for more funding for research and more gun laws.

Unless there’s federal action, it won’t likely ignite change in Tennessee, where laws steer away from most firearm restrictions.

What’s certain, law enforcement says, is that they are seeing an alarming number of guns. Shelby County deputies say it’s more than they’ve ever seen, and many were stolen from cars.

They’re also encountering more high-powered firearms and switches, which are tiny devices that turn a Glock into a machine gun. It spits rapid fire that’s hard to control and maximizes destruction.

“We’re almost in the position that we’re outgunned before even the encounter, so it’s a dangerous situation,” SCSO Chief Deputy Anthony Buckner said. “Every year we are focusing our attention to make sure our deputies have the right gear and the right training.”

The injuries from these guns are more lethal.

“They don’t come in with one bullet hole. They come with ten some, you know. One time I think we counted 19 on somebody,” Dr. Kerwin said. “It really should give us all pause.”

He said this shouldn’t be routine. Rubin agrees.

“That’s the hardest part, going to bed at night,” Rubin said.

She said she’d never lost someone to violence before. It’s crippling. She misses her son’s smile.

“He was great. He got baptized at four. He used to preach. He was really a great kid. He really was,” she said.

Her baby boy became a devoted father. His family came first. Brooks was a high school track star and aspiring rap artist. He was set to start auto mechanic trade school that Monday.

“I have good memories of him, so I am going to be okay,” Rubin said.

Two weeks later, Brooks’ brother and son were pallbearers, their lives forever changed by the gun violence.

A GoFundMe has been set up to raise money for Brooks’ children and family. For more information, click here.

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