Five shootings in five days. These were not warning shots. Multiple homes in our community were hit by gunfire, including by stray bullets. Bullets do not discriminate. Once a trigger is pulled, no one gets to decide where that bullet stops or whose life it changes.
I need our community to understand something from me personally: I care. I care about every child who leaves home and the parent waiting for them to come back. I care about the families behind the walls of the homes that were hit. I care about our young people, our seniors, our neighborhoods, and every person who deserves to feel safe in the place they call home. Yes, protecting Plymouth is my responsibility as Mayor, but responsibility alone is not what drove these decisions. Caring about what happens to our people did.
We can not continue as though everything is normal. The curfew, the postponement of the Homecoming game and parade, and the declaration of a State of Emergency were about protecting people during a very serious moment in our town. The game can be played another day. The parade can be held another day. There will be another opportunity for us to celebrate together. A life does not come with another date.
The State of Emergency also allows us to do more than establish a curfew. Under North Carolina General Statute § 166A-19.22, it activates applicable emergency plans and mutual-assistance agreements, giving the Town additional avenues to seek assistance and resources when needed. If there is a lawful resource available that can help protect the people of Plymouth, I want us to pursue it. That is what you do when you care about the lives entrusted to your community.
Parents, I need you. Talk to your children. Know where they are, who they are with, and what is happening in their lives. Pay attention to what is coming into your home. Our young people are shooting at one another. An argument or disagreement should never end with someone dead and someone else facing consequences that will follow them for the rest of their life.
Our community cannot afford silence either. If you know someone is carrying a gun, if you know threats are being made, or if you have information that could prevent another shooting, please get that information to law enforcement. Do not put yourself in danger, but please do not look the other way. Something you know could be the very thing that keeps another trigger from being pulled.
I care too much about Plymouth to place an event, a tradition, a celebration, or anyone’s individual interest above a human life. I want our children here for the next Homecoming. I want our families together for the next celebration. I want parents to hear their children walk through the front door, not receive a phone call that changes their lives forever. The people we love cannot be replaced.
Mayor Crystal Davis
Town of Plymouth
I need our community to understand something from me personally: I care. I care about every child who leaves home and the parent waiting for them to come back. I care about the families behind the walls of the homes that were hit. I care about our young people, our seniors, our neighborhoods, and every person who deserves to feel safe in the place they call home. Yes, protecting Plymouth is my responsibility as Mayor, but responsibility alone is not what drove these decisions. Caring about what happens to our people did.
We can not continue as though everything is normal. The curfew, the postponement of the Homecoming game and parade, and the declaration of a State of Emergency were about protecting people during a very serious moment in our town. The game can be played another day. The parade can be held another day. There will be another opportunity for us to celebrate together. A life does not come with another date.
The State of Emergency also allows us to do more than establish a curfew. Under North Carolina General Statute § 166A-19.22, it activates applicable emergency plans and mutual-assistance agreements, giving the Town additional avenues to seek assistance and resources when needed. If there is a lawful resource available that can help protect the people of Plymouth, I want us to pursue it. That is what you do when you care about the lives entrusted to your community.
Parents, I need you. Talk to your children. Know where they are, who they are with, and what is happening in their lives. Pay attention to what is coming into your home. Our young people are shooting at one another. An argument or disagreement should never end with someone dead and someone else facing consequences that will follow them for the rest of their life.
Our community cannot afford silence either. If you know someone is carrying a gun, if you know threats are being made, or if you have information that could prevent another shooting, please get that information to law enforcement. Do not put yourself in danger, but please do not look the other way. Something you know could be the very thing that keeps another trigger from being pulled.
I care too much about Plymouth to place an event, a tradition, a celebration, or anyone’s individual interest above a human life. I want our children here for the next Homecoming. I want our families together for the next celebration. I want parents to hear their children walk through the front door, not receive a phone call that changes their lives forever. The people we love cannot be replaced.
Mayor Crystal Davis
Town of Plymouth