ST PAUL, Minn. — The family of an 8-year-old girl shot four times last month says they’re hoping to never return home where the shooting happened.
And a new department at the City of St. Paul supports their need for a fresh start.
“She doesn’t want to go back. She’s scared, we all are,” said Jacqueline La San about her daughter, Lauren Holloway, who’s still recovering from four bullet wounds in her back, neck and face.
Holloway was playing with her cousins and friends, her mother says, when shots rang out on June 20. Despite running for her mother, the bullets caught Holloway four times.
“I’m running towards Lauren, to get her off the playground and get her closer to me,” Jacqueline recalled, soon reflecting on her daughter’s perseverance: “I figured if God got her this far, he’ll take care of the rest. Still amazes me that she’s even here.”
No one has been charged in this case.
Meantime, Brooke Blakey – Director of the new St. Paul Office of Neighborhood Safety – says her office exists to support families affected by crimes: whether through short-term housing or longer-term planning for job, school and address changes.
“There’s a lot of work going on right now but right now one of our main focuses is looking at gun violence and how it affects our community,” Blakey said, adding that the office is currently working with families affected by gun violence: “We’re looking at the trauma that’s involved, the PTSD that goes with that, the fear, and also how we build the community as well around those things that happen.”
To learn more about the Office of Neighborhood Safety – and how it aligns with Mayor Melvin Carter’s Community-First Public Safety Framework – just click here.
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