Philadelphia gun violence prevention advocate calls for united front after Fairmount Park mass shooting
A Memorial Day celebration in Philadelphia turned deadly Monday night as two people were killed and nine others were injured after a mass shooting erupted at Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park. Police believe three shooters are responsible.
Following the shooting at Lemon Hill, gun violence is being called a public health crisis, and an upcoming event is aimed at prevention. Advocates say that there needs to be a more united front in finding solutions to gun violence.
In the shadow of City Hall, Oronde McClain is working to help other gunshot victims.
"I got shot in the back of the head when I was 10 years old," McClain said. "I died for 2 minutes, 17 seconds. I was in a coma for seven weeks."
McClain says it was a drive-by shooting 25 years ago in Mt. Airy. He still has headaches, seizures and other medical issues. He says he still has gunshot fragments in his head.
"I have scars as well," McClain said. "One bullet altered my whole life."
McClain will join doctors and other advocates for the upcoming Hope Symposium on Gun Violence, an effort to turn awareness into action and shape a safer tomorrow. The symposium is scheduled for June 11 at Temple University.
"It cannot be addressed by just one sector," Javi Alverado with Intercultural Family Services said. "It really demands a multifaceted united response. It is a public health crisis. Prevention must go hand in hand with healing. And that's why we bring together public and private partners to support youth and families through mental health services, early intervention, education, mentorship and culturally responsive care."
"I have emotional scars that will never close," McClain said.
McClain says he's turning that pain into action. He works with the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting. Their mission is to bring sensitivity to the stories of victims and their families.
"It's horrible what's going on right now," McClain said.
One step at a time, he hopes to build a safer future.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
12 minutes ago
- CBS News
8 charged after game wardens take down poaching ring in Cambria County
Eight people pleaded guilty to dozens of charges after the Pennsylvania Game Commission said wardens took down a poaching group in Cambria County. The Game Commission said a lengthy investigation into the taking of 11 white-tailed deer and a gray fox in Cambria County between 2023 and 2024 resulted in 35 charges and more than 70 years' worth of license revocations. Authorities said the investigation began when a game warden checked the license of one of the suspects while they were fishing in Indiana County. When the warden asked about the guns and ammunition found in the vehicle, the Game Commission said the suspect admitted to shooting deer at night using a spotlight. After serving three separate search warrants, investigators determined eight people were poaching deer at night while using spotlights. They also failed to tag deer, took bucks that didn't meet antler restrictions, used tags from other states and exceeded the legal limits, the Game Commission said. Jason Wise, Sandra Wise, Daniel Wise, Issac Keith, Dan Sodomont, Marina Morgan, Dennis Corson and Levi Corson all pleaded guilty to summary counts. They were ordered to pay $35,000 in restitution and they lost their hunting and trapping privileges for a combined 70 years. "Great work by all wardens involved in ensuring these senseless crimes didn't go unpunished, helping to uphold the law and protect our wildlife for current and future generations," the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Southwest Region wrote on Facebook. People are encouraged to report wildlife crimes by calling Operation Game Thief at 1-888-PGC-8001 or by going online.
Fox News
13 minutes ago
- Fox News
NEWT GINGRICH: Pay less, know more — Trump is slashing red tape and lowering your healthcare costs
One of the boldest and most consistent themes in President Donald J. Trump's healthcare agenda is his determination to reduce the role and power of middlemen. From insurance companies to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) – and even hospitals –these intermediaries profit from the inefficiencies of our bloated health system. The result is higher costs for American families. As I explain in my new book, "Trump's Triumph: America's Greatest Comeback," the U.S. healthcare system isn't expensive just because care is costly. It's expensive because the system is complex – by design. The third-party payment structure, whether public or private, adds layers of bureaucracy. This opens the door for middlemen to offer supposed solutions that serve their own bottom lines – not patients. It's a vicious cycle: more rules lead to more middlemen, which lead to even more rules, red tape, and rising costs. President Trump understood this – and he took action. In his first term, he issued a groundbreaking executive order on price transparency. For the first time, hospitals were required to disclose the real cost of procedures, enabling patients to compare prices before receiving care. While the Biden administration weakened enforcement, Trump doubled down in his second term with an even stronger push for what he called "radical transparency." Radical transparency is the antidote to healthcare's worst inefficiencies. When patients and employers can see wide price differences for the same procedures – even within the same hospital system – the games played behind the scenes get exposed. These inflated prices often have little to do with quality and everything to do with how well insurers negotiate – or how many middlemen take a cut. The same is true for prescription drugs. PBMs – giant corporations that control which drugs are covered and at what cost – use their market power to inflate prices. Three PBMs control 80 percent of the market. They're often subsidiaries of major insurers, forming vertically integrated monopolies. New data from the Pacific Research Institute shows that most PBMs skim more money off high-cost prescriptions than European countries charge. It's no wonder Americans are paying more. Hospitals play a role as well. Many exploit a well-intentioned federal program known as 340B, which allows them to purchase drugs at steep discounts. Instead of passing the savings to patients, they bill insurers full price and pocket the difference. The program was meant to expand care for low-income patients, but there's little oversight to ensure this happens. President Trump's recent executive order on drug pricing targets this broken system. By creating a pathway for manufacturers to sell directly to patients, health plans, pharmacies, and clinics – without the markup – he's offering a way to bypass the middlemen. This isn't theory – it's already working. When insulin makers launched direct-to-consumer programs, they sold the same drug at one-fourth the price patients were paying through insurance – while still making a profit. That's the power of real market competition – without a single government price control. This stands in sharp contrast to the Left's top-down vision. Whether it's price controls, centralized purchasing, or government-run insurance, the left's answer is always more bureaucracy. But more bureaucracy means more complexity – and more room for middlemen to thrive. Perhaps the most visionary part of President Trump's health care agenda is his call to Make America Healthy Again. For decades, we've operated a "sick care" system focused on treating illness after it strikes. Trump's approach is different. It emphasizes prevention, lifestyle, and personal responsibility – turning Americans from passive recipients into active participants in their own health. In this model, the government's role isn't to run the system but to create an environment in which patients and doctors can lead – with access to better tools, more transparency, and useful information. That means clearer labeling for ultra-processed foods, ensuring gold standard scientific data free of conflicts of interest, and addressing environmental factors that contribute to chronic disease. These kinds of structural reforms empower people to make informed choices and live healthier lives – without mandates or micromanagement. It's a model that eliminates the ultimate middleman: the system itself. President Trump's leadership has laid the groundwork for a transparent, patient-centered, free-market healthcare system. But the job isn't done. Congress should join him in continuing this fight – not just to lower costs, but to restore power to the American people. America deserves a healthcare system that benefits Americans – not industry middlemen.
Washington Post
16 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Top CDC covid vaccine adviser quits after RFK Jr. ended recommendations
A top coronavirus vaccine adviser at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has resigned, citing concerns that she could no longer help vulnerable people after federal health officials rescinded long-standing recommendations to immunize children and pregnant women. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos said in an email to colleagues Tuesday that she made a 'personal decision' to quit the CDC after 12 years.
