Students at Albany High School wear blue in honor of slain teen Tyler Rhodes. Rhodes was killed Saturday at Hoffman Park. Now, teens and local leaders alike say more must be done to curb teen violence in Albany. Our Brandon Walker has more.
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ALBANY, N.Y.-- "All of us are going to miss you Tyler," reflected one teen into the lens of a digital camera.
Friends of Tyler Rhodes record a memorial to their fallen friend. His loss, still too soon to digest.
"We feel like this didn't have to happen. And it's a real tragic thing that did happen and basically we're going to try and stop it from happening to anyone else." said Shavar Burden, a friend of Tyler Rhodes.
Reflections spoken aloud and through written word. His locker, number 4489, draped with a quilt of warm words. A heavy day, indeed, for students at Albany High. Grief counselors on hand to help students cope with their loss.
"We had a lot of people that could assist the students in the grief. It's a very sad day at Albany High School," said Dr. David McCalla, Albany High School principal.
The Albany High School junior was stabbed to death Saturday evening at Hoffman Park on South End. Another victim of youth violence. Another sign, folks who live on South End say, that more needs to be done to engage youth in the neighborhood.
"You can't stop the violence without giving them something else to do," said Sylvester Scott, an Albany resident.
Details probing into what here Saturday remain sparse. What many here do know, or at least hope, is through Tyler's tragedy, the issue of teen violence in Albany will be discussed.
"The general community at large is concerned about our youth," said Carolyn McLaughlin, president of the Albany Common Council.
Community leaders hope to get more hands come to the table to discuss the creation of job and volunteer programs for teens, possibly even an open forum for them to share frustrations.
"Specifically the incident that happened with Tyler Rhodes people are concerned, you know, how do we send a positive message to our young people," McLaughlin, a democrat, said.
"Usually sometimes when these things happen you just hear rhetoric for a couple of weeks and nothing is done. But we're hopeful out of this, out of the ashes of this tragedy we can build something for the future," Dr. McCalla said.
A consensus something has to happen. Frustrations both spoken and relayed through tears.
No arrests have been made. A viewing will be held Wednesday evening at New Comer-Cannon Funeral Home in Colonie.