TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — With an iPad in hand, Katie Woodall looked at pictures of what should have been a fun time at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas back in 2017.
With smiles on her face when talking about the concert itself, that smile melted into a pensive look when talking about the violence she experienced.
“All of a sudden I just had a spray of blood,” she recounted.
That moment came with shock as she realized the shooter was taking aim at her and her husband.
“Just that brief moment of…was it my husband?” Woodall said, wondering whether the blood on her was her husband’s.
With a sigh of relief realizing it wasn’t, she ran for her life.
More than 5 years after the shooting she is involved with organizations against gun violence.
“I don’t want to take people’s guns away, but what I want is for our society to get to a place where we are responsible gun owners,” she said.
Woodall said part of that is increasing police presence.
Tucson Police Chief Chad Kasmar said TPD created the Crime Gun Intelligence Unit. The unit took over 1300 guns off the streets and is looking at places with high gun crime.
Kasmar said they have solved about 78 percent of the homicides.
However, even though he said homicides are down 16 percent in Tucson this year, he said gun crimes are still high, even those involving kids as young as 12-years-old.
“As you heard from the FBI, we’re not only seeing that spontaneous violence has increased, but youth and youth’s ability to get access to guns and to use guns,” Kasmar said.
The FBI’s Operation Clean House addressed gun violence in Pima County from Marana to Sahuarita.
Working together with state, county and local law enforcement, the FBI made 88 arrests. Four of those were homicide arrests. Over 9 thousand fentanyl pills were also taken by authorities and 10 guns.
The law enforcement officials who worked on Operation Clean House also worked on Operation Cross Country. That operation ended with the rescue of five minors who were involved in sex trafficking and one was as young as 14. The sex trafficking crimes date back 5 years.
Woodall said people should consider gun violence can come in a lot forms.
“There’s just so many layers of it that affect so many people,” she said.
