Harrisburg Police Commissioner Thomas Carter at times raised his voice with passion and challenged city residents to push for a better future, and one without guns, during a funeral service Thursday for Tyrone Gibson, the 14-year old who was shot and killed in the city on May 26.
Hundreds of family members, friends, and supporters gathered in front of the Reservoir Park bandstand to remember Gibson’s life. Numerous public officials, including Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse, Representative Patty Kim, and Harrisburg school board members also delivered remarks.
Papenfuse focused on what Gibson’s life could have been and what his memory could inspire others to do, while Carter delivered a powerful message about community and ending gun violence in the city.
“When are we going to learn, when are we going to put down the guns, when are we going to stop committing genocide on each other, when is that going to happen?” Carter said.
“I have talked to several city leaders about the gun violence in the city here, some good responses and some bad, but as I look out into the crowd, I see a lot of little kids here, men and women. My heart bleeds with you, my agency’s heart bleeds with you.”
Gibson was shot after leaving his home to go to a store around the corner with some friends, his mother previously told PennLive. Police have not yet announced any suspects in the case.
A viewing was held earlier Thursday, and Gibson’s death was the inspiration for a rally to stop the violence in Harrisburg on Sunday. A hundred people also came out for a balloon release in his memory last week.
Carter’s remarks can be read in full below via a PennLive-typed transcript of his speech.
"On May 26 when we got the call, I responded, and Tyrone Gibson was there. And Tyrone, I thought he was 12-years-old. He looked so innocent, so untouched by the weight of this city. He looked almost like he looks in this picture right here [holds up funeral program]. It was heartbreaking to see this young man laying there, and I said to myself, ‘surely, this was a good kid.’
"As I was walking through the neighborhood with my staff, trying to establish if there were cameras or if anyone saw anything, a lot of people came forward, but what touched me the most and what really bothers me right now is two things.
A young man about 11 years old walked up to me and said, ‘Carter’, I guess the city knows me as Carter, and that’s good. He said, ‘Carter, can I talk to you?’ I said sure. I walked over and he looked at me with glassy eyes and he said, ‘is that my brother laying back there?’ And I said, young man, I did not know your brother, but if you can give me a picture, I’ll let you know. He said, ‘you stay right here, and I’ll be back.’
"He ran to his house and he got a cell phone, and he came back and he showed me the picture and I said well can I take this back there. When I saw that picture, I knew it was him, but that was something I couldn’t tell him because of his delicate age. I went back there and I showed my people back there, and everybody was just heartbroken.
"Then I got a phone call, I got a phone call from my wife and she said to me, is that my little cousin back there? I said, I don’t know who your little cousin Is, and she said, Yes you do. I said, I’m sorry, but your family is so big, I don’t know who your little cousin is, and she said to me, don’t you come home until you find out what happened to my little cousin.
"And then I met the mother, and we talked, and at that time, I told her, yes, that is your little boy back there. And she said to me that he was such a good kid. He was my best friend. He did everything around the house. He was not a problem child. And I said, Ma’am, I believe everything that you’re telling me and more because I wanted to say that it looked like that he had a halo over his head when he was laying back there.
"It looked like to me, like I said, that he was unblemished and untouched by the weight of this world here. It looked like to me that he was a church kid, into church. He wasn’t into guns, and I said to myself who, and for what reason, would want to shoot this little kid? Why?
"I said to myself, you know, this is enough. When are we going to learn, when are we going to put down the guns, when are we going to stop committing genocide on each other, when is that going to happen? I have talked to several city leaders about the gun violence in the city here, some good responses and some bad, but as I look out into the crowd, I see a lot of little kids here, men and women. My heart bleeds with you, my agency’s heart bleeds with you.
"The mayor and I talk about this regularly: What can we do to get the guns off the street? What can we do to let you know that, I understand that a gun is a weapon of mass destruction, I understand that in a blink of an eye, it can take somebody’s life. I get it. I understand that. I’ve been carrying guns all my life, and to be quite honest with you, I’m tired of it, because I know the damage that a gun can do. This should not happen. We should not be here. We should be someplace, somewhere else, partying and talking and talking about family and talking about what tree this little man could be right here because he did not deserve what happened here.
"So now we’re at the crossroads of, what’s going to happen next? And I ask you what’s going to happen next. I understand that you young kids, for some reason, are taken by what you call the fire stick. The fire stick is not your power, it doesn’t give you power. If you look at the fire stick, eventually it’s gonna get you in trouble and get you [jail] time.
"The most powerful thing that you have going for you is your brain. Use your brain, use your God-given talents. I won’t talk to much longer. Let’s talk about it, though. We were brought over here against our will. We worked in slavery for almost 400 years. Look at the inventions that those people came up with. Look how it was a black Wall Street. Look at how before most of you were even born, there were a lot of black businesses up on Sixth Street. Look at everything that our people have accomplished, and I’m not talking segregation. I love everybody all the time. I don’t want the division because there’s power in unity, but look, look at everything. I think that our people, our kids, need to find out their history and their blessings. Those people that hung from trees and fought for your freedom, not to see you gun each other down, not to see you run amok, but because they knew that there was a grand calling for you. So please, put down guns. Let’s use our brain.
"I’m gonna ask [Harrisburg activist] Kevin Maxson; Kevin Maxson and I talk sometimes. We don’t always agree on what should happen, but we both have the love of the people in our hearts. I understand that, you know, you don’t want to turn the guns over to me because you don’t trust the police. But, find a person like Kevin Maxson, who will be glad to turn the guns over to me, and no questions asked and nobody charged.
"I want to get the guns off the street. I want you to pick up a book. They say, they say, If you want to hide something from a black man, put it in a book, because they won’t read, but let’s change the paradigm, let’s all start reading.
“Family, God bless you. I know, I know, that he is protected by the love of Jesus, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and I know he is wrapped in the bosom of God. Thank you.”
More coverage:
Funeral services for slain boy, 14, underway in Harrisburg park: Watch