ROANOKE, VA – “It’s unbelievable that we are back at square one. That we are back at square one. Back in the middle of an investigation, back in the middle of a teen shooting. Back in the middle, reliving everything again,” Kierston Cole said.
For Kierston Cole, the pain of gun violence is too familiar.
“I jumped straight up and went straight to his mom. Because I know what I feel and that’s all I could think of is I don’t want her to carry this weight,” she said.
This weekend, Cole lost her son’s father, Ike Cunningham.
Police say he was shot and killed by a 16-year-old.
Just over a year ago, she lost their 15-year-old son, Isaac, to another teenage shooter.
“Another child has taken another life,” she said.
Cunningham’s death was one of three shootings in under 12 hours across Roanoke this weekend.
Captain Eric Thiel says that while two of the weekend shootings involved teenagers, it doesn’t necessarily mean teen crime is on the rise.
“Our youth involved crime since 2023 has taken a pretty significant decrease,” Thiel said.
But for families like Cole’s, the numbers don’t matter as much as the reality they’re living in.
“People in the city are talking about it’s getting better, but they’re not the ones living in the middle of the gun violence. And for me, I’m not just affected one time, I’m affected two times,” Cole said.
Arrests have now been made in all three shootings, a sign to Captain Thiel that progress is being made.
“Having folks in the community give us information to clear these cases is instrumental in having such a high clearance ratio,” Thiel said.
Thiel says zero youth crime is the goal—but they have to respond to cases as they arise.
“Obviously, we want those numbers to be zero. That’s our ultimate goal. But at the same time, we have to be realistic and investigate as crimes happen,” he said.
Despite the efforts and goals, for Cole, the impact is all too real.
“I don’t see a change, I don’t see it getting better. And I have Japhel, he’s thirteen, he’s scared. We’ve been the ones to carry the weight and bring the awareness. Bridging the gaps between the police and the community is a great start, but there’s still work to do,” Cole said.