Standing in the middle of John F. Kennedy Recreation Center Thursday afternoon in Buffalo’s Willert Park neighborhood, the site of a quadruple shooting three weeks ago, U.S. Attorney James Kennedy announced the formation of a 60-day task force made up of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to combat a surge in gun violence in the city.
Fourteen people were shot over the July 4 holiday weekend in separate incidents and the city is on pace for a record 90 murders this year.
Kennedy’s task force will focus on community policing, with law enforcement and community residents working together to get illegal guns off the street and finding and bringing federal indictments against the perpetrators of these shootings.
Kennedy initiated a similar task force in Rochester due to that city’s rise in gun violence.
