BELLE GLADE, Fla. — The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office hosted a National Night Out event Thursday evening in Belle Glade.
The event took place less than 24 hours after a fatal double shooting took place along Canal Street at about 10 p.m. Wednesday that killed Eddie Willingham, 43, and Allah Lawrence, 36.
"Allah Lawrence, I knew him real well. I had his sisters and stuff," Margaret Miller, a former educator in Belle Glade, said. "Eddie? His birthday was yesterday and I know that family a long time."
She said Willingham was a quiet guy who was close to his family.
Miller said Willingham had spent his 43rd birthday with his family and left with Lawrence to pick up snacks for work when they were both shot and killed Wednesday night.
"We're a small-knit family. When you're raised together, you consider each other as family," Miller said. "It's sad. Nobody wants to come forward but until it happens to them, they'll change."
She brought her grandson to Glades Pioneer Park for the National Night Out event, a way for first responders to build trust and connections with the community.
"This event is one of the biggest things that will allow us to do that, coming together and realize that the police are not our enemy," Jalen Rushing, a youth prevention specialist with Gang Alternative, said. "They are our friends, and they're here to help us and protect us and serve us."
The nonprofit teaches young adults to stay on the right track away from crime.
"We don't focus on telling them what to do and what not to do. We give them the skills. We give them light," Rushing said. "Hopefully when the light comes on they can make the right decisions."
Belle Glade has seen three fatal shooting incidents in the last two weeks, one of which involved teenagers, where one lost their life.
"How many more is the question, how many more do we need to realize that there needs to be change?" asked Rushing.
He said he didn't know the victims from Wednesday night but is calling on the community for answers.
"It's bad enough that they have to live with the fact that the person that they love is no longer here, but at least they can have closure in the situation if they know that they have justice for what happened," Rushing said.
If you have any information, you're asked to contact the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office at 561-688-3400.
