Street outreach workers are our first responders to gun violence

Street outreach workers walk around the Humboldt Park neighborhood on Dec. 23, 2020. The workers monitor hotspots, de-escalate potentially violent situations and provide services to people affected by gun violence. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)

The nation is mourning the latest mass shooting in Tulsa, and the complicated response to the killings in Uvalde, Texas, of 19 children and two adults continues to unravels. Meanwhile, news of street and community violence — a different kind of gun violence — is increasing nationwide.

In Chicago, 51 people were shot, including nine who were killed, over the recent Memorial Day weekend. Four were killed in shootings in Baltimore. Ten shootings in 24 hours in Portland, Oregon, resulted in one death. There was a deadly triple shooting in Dallas. Three were killed in two separate shootings in St. Paul, Minnesota. Four shootings over a few hours in Memphis resulted in one death.