GREENSBORO, N.C. — People all over Greensboro united to plead with their neighbors to put the guns down.
Students walked out of high schools and activists worked with police.
The renewed calls to action come after a violent few weeks both locally and nationally.
Greensboro Police Chief Thompson told WFMY News 2’s Itinease McMiller Tuesday he was talking to city council about the struggles the department is facing, to in the middle of that meeting get text messages about another homicide.
Text like that is why he attended Wednesday’s Mother’s Standing Against Gun Violence gathering because he knows it's going to take the community to get ahold of crime.
“We hope the community sees the partnership and reaches out to us because a lot of these are unsolved," Thompson said. “We are working to solve those cases and we hope this is a positive step toward doing that.”
Sheila Banks lost her son in a drive-by shooting in 2019.
“Jaishon was his name his rap name was Swerve, Sheila said. “He died two days before my birthday.”
Banks and other mothers cleaned their memorials outside the Greensboro government plaza downtown.
They show the faces of more than 100 victims of gun violence over a two-year span.
“This is a drop in a bucket we still have to get more signs. As you know homicides just went on this past week another mother we have to help,” Banks said. “I love what I do but I don't want to go to another mother and see their shocked face.”
Several groups came out to support the mothers, including Guilford County crime stoppers and City Help the Triad.
Both Chief Thompson and Banks said it'll take a community effort to stop the list of homicides from growing.
“I wasn't able to save my kid and I have to live with that everyday,” Banks said. “I'm trying to save someone else's.”
Those most impacted by gun violence also decided to take a stance by walking out of school to protest gun violence and demand action on gun safety.
Meredith Mckinney was one of the hundreds of Grimsley High School students who walked out.
“It's making us angry, gun violence is no longer this abstract concept, we're seeing it here, now, in our community,” Mckinney said. “In the last two years, we've lost two Grimsley students.”
The Grimsley community lost a 17-year-old classmate to gun violence at a party last week.
"I'm tired of my peers getting killed due to gun violence and I'm out here seeking change for us,” said Grimsley student Haley Johnson.
Chief Thompson said he supports the student's efforts.
“They have some of the strongest voices that unfortunately don't get heard as much as they need to,” Thompson said. “Those are the individuals most impacted now by violence as a whole.”
In partnership with police, community, impacted families, and youth city leaders believe tragedies can be prevented.