LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) – A Pine Bluff coach and teacher is confronting crime in his hometown -- he says "enough is enough."
Pine Bluff police responded to a pair of gunfire calls, both within a block of each other. At each scene, a 17-year-old male was found dead.
This marks Pine Bluff’s eighth homicide.
"We got a gun problem. We have a gun problem. Still, I go back and say…where they getting the guns from?” Albert Brewer said.
Boxing coach Albert Brewer knows the crime in Pine Bluff all too well. He said it is mostly a problem among the youth.
"There's no opportunity for the young kids. Limited summer jobs. A lot of the kids for same reason they just don't want to go to school,” Brewer said.
The two homicides that occurred near 25th and Orange streets Thursday, June 23, hit especially close to home for Brewer. One of the 17-year-old victims shot and killed was a former boxing student.
"It's crazy. I'm still in shock because I knew that kid from a baby,” he said.
Brewer said Pine Bluff needs more mentors because a lot of kids have no one to turn to.
"We must invest in our youth. The little boxing club I got I just try to do my part. I can't reach all the kids,” he said.
Brewer said the violence isn't going to go away overnight.
"When is enough is enough? How more kids have to be killed before somebody take a stand that's in a position to make a difference?" he said.
But he wants to see more people step up to the plate so the crime can finally come to an end.
"I'm just trying to do my part. When I created gloves not guns, what I had in mind teaching these kids is when they do have confrontation…you don't have to turn to a gun,” Brewer said.
Detectives said it is unclear whether the two shootings are related, but there is a strong possibility they might be.
No suspect information is available.