Local leaders, law enforcement holds meeting about gun violence

FORT MYERS, Fla. – City leaders, law enforcement, and members of the public are coming together Wednesday evening to come up with a plan to stop gun violence by looking at the areas where violent crimes occur.

“My wish is that we will emerge out of this experience more knowledgeable, more focused, and a way forward,” Mayor Randy Henderson said.

Larry Aguilar with the Quality Life Center, a center that helps young people in the Fort Myers’ Dunbar neighborhood, is one of the many local leaders who want to see a change.

“It’s a problem that we can feel, we can touch,” Aguilar said. “It gets to a point where you’re saying to yourself we can’t continue like this, something needs to happen.”

Members of the public are also welcome to voice their concerns.

A study done by a real estate blog ranked Fort Myers as the 15th most dangerous small city in America. Some say they can believe it, but the mayor feels otherwise.

“I’m going to challenge that report and say that there needs to be more sophistication around that report that needs to be compared with the reports that are generated by law enforcement locally,” Mayor Henderson said.