Youth stage peace rally in Mason Square

SPRINGFIELD - Just steps from the scene of a fatal shooting outside a McDonald's restaurant in Mason Square, nearby residents rallied for peace on Saturday, drawing a chorus of honks and cheers from passing motorists.

"Basically we're just trying to show that the community cares," 15-year-old Ariel Perez, said as she stood on a street corner outside the former firehouse at the heart of the neighborhood, holding a sign that read: "We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means," a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.

She joined about two dozen local residents to hold anti-violence signs across the street from where 21-year-old Jerry A. Hughes III was gunned down and a child caught a stray bullet in the leg on Aug. 22.
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The shootings occurred in broad daylight and as the neighborhood teemed with children shuttling between two youth basketball tournaments. Police termed Hughes' slaying gang-related.

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Jesse L. Lederman, 14, organized the stand-out over the past week. He is a leader with the McKnight Youth Council.

"You can put as many cops out on the street as you want, but the neighborhood has to come together," Lederman said, shouting over the din of traffic and anti-violence songs he had blaring over a radio.

Small children, teens and adults joined in the effort.

Walter Kroll, a member of the McKnight Neighborhood Council, said the group encourages residents to come together to prevent crime, rather than shrinking away from the goings-on in their neighborhood.

"We don't want people to hide in their homes. That's the last thing we want," Kroll said. "We all want a good quality of life and less violence."

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno came out to the event wearing shorts and a baseball cap, lauding Lederman and all who attended the rally.

"The cops can't be everywhere," Sarno said. "Parents need to get their thumbs on their kids."