ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis mayor is bringing together community leaders to talk about youth outreach after last weekend’s tragic gun violence downtown.

It’s been four days since 17-year-old Makeo Moore died in a shooting on Washington Avenue. Eleven other victims between the ages of 15 to 19 were either shot or injured. Community leaders are coming together Thursday afternoon to talk about solutions.

The shooting happened on the 5th floor of a building on Washington Avenue just after 1:00 a.m. Sunday. Police said a large crowd of teenagers was holding a party. Officers were out working traffic in the area when they saw a bunch of young people running for their lives.

In response to this shooting, the city has announced new steps to give teens safe and fun places to hang out over the summer.

They’re planning to expand hours of weekend youth programs at Wohl and Marquette Recreation Centers. Friday and Saturday, programs will extend from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. for kids 15 and under, and 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. for teens 16 and up. The changes would last through August.

Mayor Tishaura Jones, the Office of Violence director Wil Pinkney, Mike McMillan, the president of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, and other youth programming providers will meet to talk about better ways to combat teen violence and find them safer ways to have fun.

Here’s what the mayor had to say at a news conference Sunday hours after the mass shooting downtown:

“I remember when I was a child, and we had fights, you know somebody got a black eye or a broken nose and lived to tell about it – but now our kids pull a gun at the first sign of disagreement, Jones expressed. “So we have our community violence intervention partners that are within neighborhoods across our city interacting with our young people trying to give them different alternatives.” 

That meeting will be happening at the Gateway region YMCA on Scott Avenue at 1:50 p.m.