Community marches to curb violence in city
A Stop the Violence march leaves St. Paul A.M.E. Church on Ridge Avenue in Washington Monday, heading to Washington County Courthouse.
Community members listen Monday evening in front of Washington County Courthouse as speakers discuss the city’s recent violence.
More than 50 people gathered Monday night to voice concerns about the continued violence in the community after a Washington man was killed Saturday and another was taken by helicopter to a Pittsburgh area hospital in two unrelated shootings.
Suzanne Kelley, a co-coordinator for Stop the Violence, an anti-violence group created by the family of Vincent Kelley, who was fatally shot in June 2013 while trying to stop a bank robbery in South Strabane Township, said community members have had enough. Kelley said Stop the Violence organized the march, which started in the parking lot of St. Paul A.M.E. Church, 16 Ridge Ave., Washington, and ended at the steps of the county courthouse, after being inundated with demands to do something.
“We want someone to hear us,” Kelley said. “I don’t understand what’s going on in Washington. This is senseless. The police need to step up, and our community needs to come together.”
Matthew E. McGlone, 21, of Burton Avenue, was shot multiple times Saturday behind Comfort Lounge, 1187 Jefferson Ave., Washington, He was taken by private vehicle to Washington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:49 a.m. His death was ruled a homicide.
Avery Selvey, 39, of Canonsburg, was found outside 245 Lincoln Terrace about 12:10 a.m. Saturday with a gunshot wound to his upper chest. He was flown to UPMC-Presbyterian hospital. A vigil for the men was held at St. Paul A.M.E. Church Sunday
Police said the two shootings were not related. But for their families and members of the community, the back-to-back incidents are too much to bare.
“This is not the first, not the second or even the third time we’ve gathered like this,” the Rev. Paula Brower, with New Dominion Birth Kingdom Ministries in Washington, said as she addressed the group. “My heart breaks when we have to gather like this.”
Brower said unity creates a community. She said everyone needs to stand together to prevent further heartbreak.
“This is the ripple effect of everyone doing what they want to do, not what they should be doing,” she said.
Brower was among a number of Stop the Violence and community members who addressed the crowd. Surrounded by the group was Virginia McGlone, Matthew’s stepmother, who shook as she stood listening to how violence effected others.
“This is a small community,” she said. “We shouldn’t have to live in fear. You never know where we are going to have the next (outbreak of violence).”
Virginia McGlone implored those who gathered to please contact police if they had any information regarding her stepson’s shooting.
“This has got to stop,” she said. ” I want justice for Matthew.”
Additional family members were also present. They hugged one another and cheered on speakers. James Retchless, whose niece Ta’Niyah Thomas was killed in March during a home invasion, said this weekend was difficult for his family. Retchless said he is related to Matthew McGlone through marriage.
“In seven months, I buried my niece; now, we are burying one more,” he said.