City Leaders Attempt To Tackle Youth Violence In Miami

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- City leaders gathered in Miami to organize an assault on the youth gun violence that has ravaged South Florida's teen citizens.

"I just can't fathom how a city like Miami can not overcome this type of epidemic," said city commissioner Frank Carollo.

Thursday's day-long summit featured a partnership between Miami Dade College's School of Justice and agencies ranging from law enforcement to social service organizations hoping to develop plans that deal with the festering scope of violence.

"We are developing a comprehensive plan to address this issue from A to Z," said Alberto Carvalho, Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. "Creating opportunities from the time kids are born to the time they graduate high school and beyond."

It's too late for someone like Aaron Willis. He's now wheelchair bound after he was shot in a drive-by.

"You can't go down the block without having to worry about somebody coming or not," said Willis.

More often than not, it's law enforcement that's put on the front line dealing with kids with guns who are now settling disputes, both on their home turf and on the internet, with AK-47's and rounds of ammunition.

"Kids know where the guns are," said one panelist at Thursday's meeting.

These incidents have become routine on the evening news and a huge dilemma for local police who face the teen gun violence almost daily.

Police Chief Rodolfo Llanes believes they need to keep their eyes online.

"There is a lot of built-up tension on social media and it is one of the things that we have to, as a collective community, supervise our youth better on the platforms they use and how they use them," Llanes said.