‘Can’t arrest our way out.’ Rock Hill gun violence concerns prompt community forum
.jpg "Rock Hill Police and the Sigmas Foundation are hosting a community forum Saturday to talk about gun violence, particularly incidents involving youth.")
The Rock Hill Sigmas Foundation is partnering with the Rock Hill Police Department to host a Youth Unite Against Gun Violence summit on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.
The summit will be presented on the campus of Clinton College. Presenters say they want to create a sense of understanding between at-risk youth, law enforcement, mental health advocates and others to create a gun-free environment in Rock Hill and surrounding areas.
This is the second event that the Rock Hill Sigmas Foundation chapter is hosting regarding gun violence, according to Reginald Brackett, social action chair of Phi Beta Sigma.
“It’s important that people who are affected or even people who are not affected are engaged and aware of their surroundings and the things that are going on in our community,” said William “Q Rock” Cureton, 58, local activist and guest speaker for the summit. “The most important thing, it’s all of us; we are all in this together. The more we get the word out and the more we talk about things that are happening in our community, I think we will have a better community.”
The event is heavily focusing on youth empowerment, including:
▪ Empower youth to be advocates against gun violence.
▪ Educate young individuals and parents on the drivers and impact of gun violence.
▪ Provide a safe, age-appropriate and engaging platform for meaningful discussions and solution development.
The Sigmas Chapter says it wants community members to come with questions and ready to learn more from others while Rock Hill also learns how they can do better at supporting the community and keeping it safe.
“After seeing and hearing about all the different gun matters that have occurred actually in our community, we said, ‘We need to figure out how to increase some type of educational awareness with our community, especially with our young people,’” Brackett said.
Gun violence in Rock Hill
Capt. Rod Stinson of the Rock Hill Police Department said gun violence in recent years has increased, especially with teenagers involved.
In the last 365 days there have been 136 counts of incidents related to gun violence in South Carolina, according to Zero Eyes with the Gun Violence Research Center. Of those, 106 caused fatalities.
The Herald has reported on several recent gun-related incidents involving youth, including the recent sentencing of a 16-year-old boy who was guilty of killing a man outside of Adam’s Grocery on Wilson Street in Rock Hill on July 7.
Stinson said the summit is an opportunity for the Rock Hill Police Department to come together with community leaders and talk about moving forward to make things safer and building stronger community relationships.
“We can’t arrest our way out of any issue that is going on. It’s going to take the police and community working together on any issue that might arise in the city,” Stinson said. “The communication, collaboration and relationships are important because it takes us working with community members to create that good quality life for everybody.”
This story was originally published July 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to state this is the second event the Sigmas Foundation has organized with the Rock Hill Police Department. A previous version of the story was incorrect.
