Updated: 5:43 PM EDT May 13, 2021
Ford Hatchett
After Wednesday night saw yet another shooting in Winston-Salem, this one sending a 14-year-old to the hospital, Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough"The shooters are becoming younger. The victims are becoming younger. That bothers me," Kimbrough said. "You’ve got a whole other generation coming behind. You can’t lock this problem away, but you can educate it away.”Kimbrough recounted his youth growing up in Forsyth County and recalled mentors and neighbors holding him accountable and making sure he didn't deviate from a path that would lead him to success. He only wishes today's youth had the same type of accountability partners."When I was sitting in Blum Park, a guy saw me drinking mad dog and slapped me and told me I was better than that," Kimbrough said. "I haven’t had a drink since I was 14 years old.”Kimbrough says as the ages on police reports get younger and younger, he can't help but feel heartbroken.“I get sad because I know that kid is affecting his life in ways he can’t even imagine," Kimbrough said. "I see it from a kid in the street, dead. I see it when I walk across the street and I see 19 and 20-year-old kids that are in jail for murder.” "We’re starting to expect these shootings," Kimbrough said. "And once you start expecting them, you start accepting them. So I don’t want to expect them nor are we going to accept them. We’ve got to do something."Kimbrough is calling on wealthy individuals and institutions like banks to put resources toward the steps necessary to create meaningful change that can slow or end youth violence. "I’ll tell you what. If somebody’s listening to this story and they want to make a difference, then let’s partner and say 'you know what I want to sponsor a number of kids going to the Hanes Camp. I want to pay to keep the Hanes Camp open an extra week in the summer.'”Kimbrough said they are steps he would like to take on his own, but due to his budgetary limitations, he needs the community's help. He says there is too much wealth in the county to allow for the type of economic and educational disparities that can bring violence into certain communities. "If I can't read or write, it's going to be a very difficult world. If I wait until I’m 15 or 16 years old and I can’t even read? I don’t even want to be in school because it’s embarrassing to be in school if I can’t compete," Kimbrough said. "If I can’t compete, I can’t eat. Now I’ve got to go to the streets.”Kimbrough said he's heard lots of talk from people in the community about change, but eventually the talk has to turn to action."I mean really. We’re in the streets every day feeding people. Every Saturday we’re feeding them, providing coats. A lot of lip service, but where are the people at? Bring 'em out. Bring 'em out.”