A week after a deadly shooting shut down part of the Gaslamp Quarter, a group of people planned to go back to honor the victims.
Max Coston is the executive director of March for Our Lives San Diego. The group --- formed after the Parkland mass shooting --- rallies for gun violence prevention policies.
“It’s time that we really show our community how much we’re going to show up to these incidents,” Coston said.
Saturday’s event will be a little different from most of the organization's rallies.
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“We’re going to set down our advocacy and fighting to end gun violence for a time and step into the idea of remembering the individuality and humanity behind the incident,” Coston said.
Among the speakers at Saturday's vigil was city councilman Stephen Whitburn.
"Incidents like the one we saw here last week simply point to the fact that there needs to be much more done to reduce gun violence here in San Diego and across America," he said.
The organization plans to release next week, a list of actions calling on county supervisors, the mayor, and the city council to ban ghost guns in San Diego.
San Diego Police said about one in four of the guns they're recovering from crimes right now is a ghost gun.
“People can sell ghost guns in gun shows and they should be seen 100% as illegal firearms,” Coston said. “They cannot be traced, you don’t have to go to your police department to get a background check, you don’t even have to register the firearm.”
Last Thursday, police said a 32-year-old man used an unserialized ghost gun in the unprovoked attack.
Justice Boldin, 28, was working as a valet at the Pendry Hotel when he was shot and killed. Four other people nearby were also wounded in a second shooting. The violence stopped when two people tackled the suspect and held him until police arrived.
Gaslamp Quarter Shooting
Flowers and candles still rest outside the hotel where Boldin was killed. Saturday’s event will take place across the street at 8 p.m. Organizers ask people to bring their own candles. Masks and social distancing are encouraged.
