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After Wave Of Violence, Councilman Wants Gas Station Security

DETROIT (WWJ) - Following a string of brutal killings and attacks, a city councilman is making bold suggestions to keep violent crimes down -- including forcing gas station owners to hire security guards.

WWJ's Florence Walton reports Detroit Councilman Kwame Kenyatta is planning a midnight march against violence and fear. It comes in the wake of a rash of crime that included the killing of a 9-month boy in a walk-by shooting, and the death of a 6-year-old at the hands of  two 15-year-old carjackers with an AK-47. A 14-year-old allegedly shot his mother to death while she slept because she wouldn't let him hang out with his friends, and a teen girl was caught in the crossfire and killed when two got into an argument on a Detroit street and opened fire at each other.

And an 86-year-old World War II victim was carjacked at a Detroit gas station in broad daylight on his way home from Bible study, and said no one helped him while he cried for help. He tried to crawl away on a leg that was broken in the attack. He eventually tried to pay a stranger to drive him home, but the man drove him for free, and called an ambulance.

To help curb crimes like these, Kenyatta hopes to draft an ordinance that requires gas station owners to hire security guards to protect the public.

"And as we watch this man was beaten on camera and crawled into the station, never once did I see the proprietor, as well as the people who were going to that gas station, help that individual. We are saying secure your facility, safeguard us as a community," said Kenyatta.

Kenyatta hopes to meet with Detroit pastors to plan a "Peace Sunday".

"We are going to ask the parishioners, the students, the gang members, the motorcycle clubs, the fraternities, the sororities, everyone in this city who agreed to sign this Peace Pledge that we will maintain peace in our community, in our families, and in our neighborhoods," said Kenyatta.

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