Community members remember deadly Boys and Girls Club shooting

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A Rochester neighborhood rocked by violence is trying to take lessons from a deadly shooting.

Sunday is the third anniversary of a shooting that killed three people at the Boys and Girls Club on Genesee Street.

So community advocates came together to remember the lost and raise awareness. Three years later and the wounds still aren’t healed.

Johnny Johnson, Raekwon Manigault, and Jonah Barley were all murdered at the Boys and Girls Club down the street after a basketball game.

This shooting left four others injured.

Three people were charged with the murders of Johnson, Manigault and Barley but only one, Johnny Blackshell was convicted. Blackshell is currently serving life.

Sunday on the anniversary of this tragic event News10NBC heard from Johnny Johnson’s mother, Lentory Johnson.

After her son was killed she became a gun violence advocate, focusing on teaching young people not to turn to guns to solve problems.

Johnson told News10NBC, “it’s a void that will never be filled.  I thought for mine in life so it just seems to me that it’s a reasonable thing I should fight for him and his death I want the same thing the other folks feel entitled to I want to better world for his children for my other children and for their children moving forward.”

A gun violence advocate, Freeomonta Strong explained, “every time we have an event it’s opening another ear or opening another guy you know just causing more awareness and will have more people at this event that we had at the last event.”

After the shooting several grassroots organizations were launched to raise awareness about gun violence.

Some are already showing positive results in the community.

For more information about the Roc Against Violence Coalition you can go online to the City of Rochester website.