 GREENSBORO – A gang leader shot outside a Greensboro apartment complex won’t let the assault deter him from working for peace among the city’s gangs.
That’s the message Jorge Cornell, or “King J,” sent through a spokesman at a news conference Monday at the Beloved Community Center, after the Sunday night shooting.
“Last night, about 2 o’clock, he shared with me that he’s as committed as ever to continue the process of peace-making and unity-making,” said the Rev. Nelson Johnson, director of the Beloved Community Center of Greensboro.
“We’re not convinced that an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is the way forward.”
Cornell is in stable condition at Wesley Long Hospital, police said Monday.
Police are investigating what motivated the shooting of Cornell, said Capt. Janice Rogers. Cornell, still sedated, was not able to give a statement to detectives, Rogers said.
Police said they were called to 1824 Boulevard St. at 9:15 p.m. Sunday to investigate a shooting.
Cornell was shot several times and taken to the hospital in a private vehicle. His condition improved from critical, Rogers said.
On June 30, Cornell appeared publicly with two local ministers and called on gang leaders to turn away from violence and put their energies into combating racism. Cornell said he is the leader of North Carolina’s Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, a gang based in Chicago. Cornell’s announcement was done in partnership with the Pulpit Forum and the Beloved Community Center.
On Monday, the two groups said since Cornell’s call for peace, there have been two meetings involving local gang members.
Some residents of the building where the shooting happened were shaken enough to start looking for a new place to live, said Delny Ayala, 14, who lives in the building with her parents.
Ayala was with a friend in another apartment when she heard six shots.
Ayala said she occasionally hears noises that might be gunshots or might be fireworks. But Sunday was different.
“Normally, I don’t pay attention,” Ayala said. “This time I was scared.”
It was only after police had surrounded the building that Ayala’s mother noticed a bullet hole in the living room window, near where Ayala’s father had been watching TV minutes before.
That bullet lodged in the wall near the apartment’s front door. A second bullet came through the apartment’s wall and lodged in another wall.
The shooting has prompted Ayala’s family to look for a new apartment.
But Ayala said Cornell had been a good neighbor, friendly to everyone.
“We never suspected he’d be a bad guy,” Ayala said. “He’s not. He always tries to help us.”
The Pulpit Forum of Greensboro and the Beloved Community Center plan to hold a prayer meeting for peace at 7 p.m. Thursday at Genesis Baptist Church, 2812 E. Bessemer St.
September 24th, 2008 at 3:26 PM
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