Stephen Massey, a mental health advocate in Springfield, said incidents such as the shooting often cast a dark cloud over the community.
Massey said those events can further normalize violence in the community as well as elicit an emotional response in trauma survivors.
“If nothing changes and there is no mental health support, these type of incidents become normalized. It makes the community hyper sensitive,” he added.
Massey noted that those reasons are what make it crucial for mental health services to be known and accessible in the community.
He said while victims can access resources through the Clark County Prosecutor’s office, it is important for mental health professionals to be proactive in reaching out and offering support.
Massey oversees the trauma recovery center at the Springfield nonprofit CitiLookout, which provides counseling services.
He said that his organization, which has a team of nine clinicians and four crime victims advocates, is reaching out to those impacted by Wednesday morning’s shooting.
The shooting was reported at around 1:48 a.m. It occurred at a gathering that served as a celebration of life for a person who died years ago, according to Springfield officials.
“This was an incident where basically a lot of shots were fired in a large crowd of people and several people were injured,” Springfield Police Chief Lee Graf told reporters during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Graf stated that the victims’ injuries were not life threatening.
Graf did not confirm if any arrest had been made as of Wednesday afternoon and suspect information had not been released by the Springfield Police Division.
Additional information regarding why the shooters were at the gathering or what lead to shots being fired has yet to be released.
Almost all the victims of the shooting were Black and they ranged from 20 to 25 years of age, according to an incident report filed by the Springfield Police Division.
Massey, who grew up on the southside of Springfield, said that often times communities of color feel that they do not have access to or the proper knowledge regarding existing mental health services.
He also noted that there needs to be a focus in bringing more mental health providers to the community as well as efforts designed to destigmatize mental health services.
“There is a stigma towards counseling in communities of color or in the inner city. That is based traditionally on how it has been. (Mental health providers) have not reached out to them,” he said.
“If we have, mainly we have sent the signal of ‘what’s wrong with you.’ But what we should be doing is saying ‘what happened to you’.”
Massey said for many people who are victims of violence or know victims, the recent shooting has opened up old wounds.
That was the case for Dion Green. He grew up near South Yellow Springs Street and witnessed the murder of his father during a mass shooting in Dayton’s Oregon District in 2019. A shooter killed nine people before he was shot to death by police.
Credit: JIM NOEKLER
Credit: JIM NOEKLER
“It is retraumatizing. It takes us back to day one,” Green said every time he hears about another mass shooting or act of gun violence. “It can be a nightmare that you relive every day.”
Green started the Fudge Foundation after the death of his father Derrick Fudge who lived in Springfield. It aims to connect trauma survivors with resources in their communities as well as help them process their grief.
Green said that his foundation will be hosting an event Friday evening that aims to give community members a forum to share their stories and speak their mind.
It will take place at 6 p.m. at 1935 South Yellow Springs Street outside the venue of where the shooting occurred.
Green said that he wanted to show support to his friend Glen Williams who owns the venue space as well as to members of the community who have been impacted by gun violence or simply want to speak out about those incidents.
He said it is important to host these kind of events because each person grieves differently and it gives people the option to share their own or just listen to other people’s experiences.
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