March 08, 2024
Kyle Mazza/SOPA Images/Sipa USA
Volunteers from the Uvalde Foundation for Kids will patrol Burholme for the next few weeks. On Wednesday, eight students were injured in a shooting near the above intersection.
A nonprofit formed after a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, will send patrols to Northeast Philly following Wednesday's bus stop shooting.
The Uvalde Foundation For Kids said it's sending volunteers because of the "current crisis in the city and students apparently being targeted." On Wednesday afternoon, eight teens were injured after more than 30 shots were fired at a SEPTA bus stop in Burholme. Volunteers, including some from Texas, will patrol the neighborhood for the next several weeks, riding SEPTA buses in the mornings and afternoons in the area. The nonprofit is also recruiting additional local volunteers.
Volunteers are there to support students and prevent violence, and they have to undergo background checks and drug screenings. They are unarmed, wear uniforms and berets and are not supposed to interact with students unless directly approached. Patrol groups will range from two to eight people.
Volunteers will also patrol the area around Northeast High School and Crossan Elementary School near Cottman and Rising Sun avenues. Philly Police and SEPTA have been notified about the patrols, the foundation said.
"Volunteers patrol are quite simply meant as an added community presence," the foundation wrote in a post announcing the program in 2022. "Team members are trained to recognize a dangerous situation to students and intervene by telling the proper authorities if something is suspicious."
The patrol program is based on the Guardian Angels, an unarmed anti-crime program formed in New York City in the 1970s. In 2020, New York City residents expressed concerns that bringing the group in could increase tensions in the neighborhood. The Uvalde foundation has previously sent patrols to Covenant School in Nashville and Michigan State University.
The foundation said it will also offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of any suspects in this case through its Crimes Against Students Program.
The Uvalde Foundation For Kids was formed after the 2022 school shooting at Robb Elementary School, where 19 students and two teachers were killed.
