Dozens gathered in East Harris County to address rising teen gun violence after recent shootings involving North Shore High School students.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Dozens of community members gathered Monday night in East Harris County to confront what many are calling an epidemic of teen gun violence.
This event was sparked by the killings of two North Shore High School football players at separate parties over the past two years.
The emotional meeting, held in response to the recent murder of 17-year-old Isiah Phillip, became a call to action for parents, educators and law enforcement officials grappling with how to protect their youth.
Braxton Coles, whose grandson Jarvon Coles was killed last year at a house party, addressed the crowd with a plea.
“I don’t know what to do,” Coles said. “But I know what we can’t do. We can’t sit around and let our future be taken away from us.”
Jarvon Coles, a senior with a 4.2 GPA and 25 college acceptances, was fatally shot at a private gathering. Investigators do not believe he was the intended target. His killer has never been found.
Now, just over a year later, another North Shore student-athlete has been shot and killed. Phillip was one of several teens wounded when a gunman opened fire at a pool party in northeast Harris County on July 19. He died at the scene. That shooter also remains at large.
Prosecutors said that just two weeks before his death, Phillip and fellow teammate Chace Calicut were in a black Cadillac Escalade involved in a separate shooting, allegedly targeting other teens in a different vehicle.
The rising violence and lack of accountability are what brought the community together Monday night.
Speakers included parents, teachers, officers, and youth outreach leaders — all unified in their message that intervention is desperately needed.
“We have to be involved, and if you’re not involved, get someone who is,” said Reginald “OG1” Gordon, program director of Operation Outreach. “Some of us are sitting at home with a shooter on their couch. And you know you need to do it — you know you need to turn him in.”