Two teens were killed in Denver in the past 24 hours in what continues to be a deadly couple of weeks for young people in the metro area.
Police say a girl they believe was 17 was found dead on the 5000 block of Troy street Thursday morning. Her brother was later arrested in connection with her death.
Wednesday night a 17-year-old boy died after he was dropped off at an urgent care clinic with a gunshot wound in South Denver.
A 17-year-old girl was killed in a murder-suicide after she was picked up from her high school last week.
A 16-year-old was arrested for shooting five people at an Aurora apartment on January 11.
Two weeks before, a 17-year-old was killed at the Aurora Mall while shopping with his family. The man police say killed him was just 18.
"We’re losing an entire generation to the judicial system and the graveyard," said Jason McBride who works with the organization Gang Rescue and Support Project (GRASP). "They have no sense of consequence and they have no conscience. When you mix those two things, it can be what we’re having right now. A recipe for disaster."
McBride once walked the streets of Denver as a member of the Bloods in Park Hill. Through GRASP, he’s now dedicated his life to stopping others from going down the same path.
"I lived through the summer of violence. I lost 22 friends during that time. I went to a funeral every other week," said McBride. "It’s a critical time in this city. It’s a shame to lose any child, but these are babies."
The GRASP organization mentors kids starting at the age of 13. McBride said even seventh graders are getting involved in the violence.
"I think if we don’t intervene and step in, we’ll be dealing with 10 and 11-year-olds killing each other within two years," McBride said. "Everything these kids need to fix them is within them or within their community. We just need to get it out and we need the community to help them."
9News spoke with Aurora Police Interim Chief Vanessa Wilson last week about teen violence in her city. She said she's focusing on gathering community leaders together to talk about gun violence and come up with a plan.
"It’s shocking and it’s something I think the entire community is saying 'what’s going on?'" said Wilson. "I think there’s an uptick in situations where teens are acting out or have access to weapons, which increases the likelihood during an argument if weapons are involved then that's going to increase the chances of a shooting."
GRASP says one of the biggest ways teenagers are changing the way crime happens is by using social media. McBride says there are teens selling drugs and guns every day using Snapchat, which is very hard to track.
"Snapchat, these kids are getting on Snapchat and selling weapons, selling marijuana, other drugs just with code words. Mom, metal on the market. Kids selling guns," McBride said. "What we’re doing for our kids right now is not working."