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'Something Has To Change': Police, Community Come Together To Combat Teen Gun Violence In Southwest Philadelphia

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Southwest Philadelphia community came together Thursday night in grief, vowing to find solutions. The emergency meeting followed the shooting of three teenagers in just a matter of days -- two were killed.

More than 100 people showed up for the meeting.

Police say they are trying to put an end to the "no snitching" code in hopes of more teens living to see adulthood.

southwest philadelphia teen vigil
(credit: CBS3)

Two teen's lives were cut short over the weekend as they were gunned down in the street. A third teenager was shot and injured.

"We cannot have our teenagers, our youth being killed in the streets," Philadelphia Police Capt. Scott Drissel said. "Something has to change."

As Southwest Philadelphia neighborhoods become more bloody, police are hoping the community will get more involved.

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"We need parents looking at their children, knowing what their children are doing. Are they checking their kids' rooms? Do their kids have firearms on them?" Drissel said.

Police organized a community meeting, asking residents to come out and get involved in helping put an end to the violence.

"This is a lot though. This is a lot. With our youth being killed and murdered like this, it's concerning," community member Sherra Dunn said.

Save our children was the driving force behind Thursday's meeting, and that's why folks came out.

Even the church is leaving its four walls.

"I believe that the church should be in the community and a part of the community," Pastor Benjamin Green of Abiding Truth Ministries said. "We should be socially connected and not just spiritually directed. So anything that's happening in the community, we want to know about it and we want to be a part of it."

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As officers work to get illegal guns off the streets, they're hoping you can help point them in the right direction.

"I implore you, if you see something that doesn't look right or you hear of a beef on the street, call us, contact us," Drissel said.

There is a $20,000 reward being offered for any information that leads to an arrest in a homicide.

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