Oh, yeah.

You're welcome to sit.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Anyone who would like to take a seat, we welcome you to come join us.

I'm just here to kick us off.

Good morning.

I'm Senese, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Fort Worth.

Here to give you all a little bit of run of show and let you know what we have planned for this morning.

You'll hear from Mayor Parker this morning, Chief Garcia and Dr.

Daniel Guzman.

He's a physician and medical director for Cook Children's Center for Community Health.

Our partner organizations are Cook Children's, ATF, Tarrant County Sheriff's Office, and various school districts.

We have some tables set up behind you.

We have information that Cook Children's has provided that our team has provided in partnership with the police department.

And then after the press conference, Officer Buddy Calzada will be providing media with demonstrations on gun locks.

So we have several gun locks for you to take home with you today.

We have various guns to show you how they can be stored properly.

So you'll hear about our big illegal gunfire campaign, education campaign that is kicking off today.

And thank you all for being here.

I'm gonna go ahead and hand it off to Mayor Parker.

Good morning.

Thank you all for taking time to be here on such an important topic.

Illegal gunfire is certainly putting our residents in our city at risk, forcing families to absolutely live in fear.

We know that it is dangerous, it is illegal, and it is absolutely preventable, and it will not be tolerated here in the city of Fort Worth.

Today, the city is launching a very important citywide public education campaign focused on the dangers of illegal gunfire and the critical importance of reasonable and responsible gun ownership.

My council members are here with me today to show their continued support for this initiative.

Many have felt the impact of illegal gunfire personally.

Councilmember Mia Hall, who represents District 6, recently called for action after a resident was killed in her district by a stray bullet coming through her home.

And of course, our mayor Pro Tem Carlos Flores, his own mother, survived being shot after a stray bullet entered her home as well just a few years ago.

As we head into the summer months, our goal is very clear.

Reduce stray bullet incidents, protect our neighborhoods, and save lives of our Fort Worth residents.

I'm joined here today by council members that understand this issue is citywide.

It is not just confined by one neighborhood or one district because we understand that everyone across Fort Worth, every single zip code, and every single family member really are impacted.

But of course, importantly, you may be asking why do you also see illegal firework signs here as well?

These campaigns started many years ago.

Both Cindy and Tortier here from District 5, starting by asking questions about why my neighborhood are illegal fireworks going off.

Then they started asking questions about illegal gunfire.

They ask questions about street racing.

Because the theme here today is safety for every single resident.

There's power and voices from our community.

So to Torchi and Cindy, thank you so much for your tenacity around this subject.

I know that our late Mayor Pro Tem Gina Bivens would also be incredibly proud.

To all of my council members, thank you.

Each of you have raised this issue time and time again.

You're holding the police department accountable.

You're spending time in your town halls to meet with residents, using your own networks, because we really do need all hands on deck to make this illegal gunfire campaign possible.

Here are some statistics that are incredibly sobering that know Chief Garcia will also hit upon.

Arrests related to illegal gunfire increased by 28% between 2024 and 2025.

But comparing January and February over the last three years, arrests tied to illegal gunfire rose 115% between 2024 and 2026.

Nationally, as many as one-third of celebratory gunfire injuries are fatal.

Think about that.

There is no such thing as an appropriate way to fire a gun aimlessly into the air.

That bullet goes somewhere.

And over one-third of those gunfire fatalities happen unnecessarily.

And they're happening right here in the city of Fort Worth.

As you can tell by the statistics I mentioned, our department, the Fort Worth Police Department, takes illegal gunfire incredibly seriously, and they will continue to prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law here in the city of Fort Worth.

Again, our message is simple.

Fort Worth is united taking action against illegal gunfire.

We are committed to protecting our residents, supporting our neighborhoods, and preventing these needless tragedies before they ever happen.

If you don't want to take it from me, take it from our police chief, Eddie Garcia.

Take it from Dr.

Guzman, who has spent his career in the trauma room and emergency room at Cook Children's, treating those children who come in needlessly due to illegal gunfire.

They are the experts out on the field, they understand what the impact is in the city of Fort Worth.

Chief Garcia, we're incredibly proud of your leadership.

Please share a few words to the media about why this is critically important, both to the city and to the Fort Worth Police Department.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, council members, for being present here today.

We're here today to address the dangers and consequences of illegal gunfire.

We believe a major part of these dangers are responsible or irresponsible firearm storage and/or accessibility.

As the chief of Fort Worth Police Department, we have data to show that illegal gunfire and unsecured firearms are contributing to violent crime and putting people at risk.

Too many lives are at risk because people are illegally shooting guns in our neighborhoods.

And too many firearms are falling into the wrong hands, the hands of criminals because they're not stored properly or are left unsecured in vehicles overnight.

This is preventable and it has to stop.

Firing a weapon illegally into the air or into the streets or into a neighborhood is more than just a crime.

These bullets don't just disappear.

They come down somewhere into homes, vehicles, businesses, and around families trying to leave peace live peacefully in our neighborhoods.

We will aggressively investigate illegal gunfire incidents and hold offenders accountable.

Not only will be hold offenders accountable, our district attorney's office will hold offenders accountable, and if the circumstances are met, federal charges as well.

If you choose to engage in this behavior, understand there will be major consequences.

We're seeing far too many firearms being stolen and later ending up connected to criminal activity or worse, injuring innocent lives.

Since the beginning of 2024, more than 2,300 firearms have been reported stolen in our city.

The largest source of stolen firearms, vehicle burglaries.

More than half of all stolen firearms, 1,185 guns were taken from vehicles.

In 2025, firearm threat from vehicles jumped from 408 to 611.

These are firearms being left in unlocked cars, center consoles, glove boxes, backpacks, and under seats.

A vehicle is not a secure location for a firearm.

Responsible gun ownership does not end when you purchase your firearm.

If you own a gun, you have a responsibility to secure it.

Use saves, use lockboxes, use gun locks if necessary.

Remove firearms from unattended vehicles whenever possible.

Do not leave guns where children or thieves can gain access to them.

Every unsecured firearm creates the potential for another robbery, another shooting, or puts another innocent life at risk.

There's plenty of guns on the streets in the hands of criminals in our city.

We don't need to help them out with more.

This is not just a law enforcement issue.

This is the shared responsibility.

We need residents to take a stand and say, not in my neighborhood.

And as you heard the mayor mentioned, we need more individuals like that.

We need gun owners to take a stand and say, I will secure my firearm properly.

This message is simple.

If you hear it, report it.

If you own a gun, secure it.

And if you carelessly pull the trigger, you will pay the price.

Protect your family, protect our community.

And the Fort Worth Police Department will be here targeting gun violence offenders, criminals, and making sure that the consequences hit as hard as the law allows.

Thank you.

I think doctors coming up, or.

I think it's all like you.

Good morning.

Thank you, Mayor Parker, Chief Garcia, and the entire council for the opportunity to partner together and to speak about this public health crisis that we're in.

As many of you know, firearms are now the number one killer of our children and our teens in this country, and Fort Worth is no different.

As an emergency room physician, I have seen far too many children die tragically and unnecessarily from injuries that are preventable, and that's the key word preventable.

As a father of three children and as a firearm owner myself, I understand the profound responsibility that comes with owning a firearm.

And I know that I must remain vigilant at home to make sure that those firearms are not accessed by my children, by my friends' children's or my children's friends, or any other unauthorized individual that shouldn't have them.

At Cook Children's, we see firsthand the devastating consequences that these tragedies leave behind.

In 2025, we saw 68 gun-related injuries with one fatality.

This year so far, we have seen 19 total injuries with two fatalities.

Many of these are non-fatal, uh, but the most severe and fatal injuries are because of handguns.

Uh in addition, we have seen an heartbreaking increase in the number of individuals and uh who have died from firearm related suicides.

Unfortunately, when a firearm is present in the home, a teen is 10 times more likely to use that in a moment of crisis.

So this is why safe storage is so important.

Uh this is so critical to what we need to do in our city, in our homes every single day.

And I ask one question of everyone.

Why are we waiting?

Why are we waiting for the next 911 call?

Why are we waiting for the next AD visit?

Uh, why are we waiting for the next news story?

The sorrow and trauma from these events do not end after one week or even one month.

They go on for a lifetime for these families and for our community as well.

Well, we s we respect everyone's right to own a firearm, but I strongly encourage every firearm owner to secure their start their firearms safely in a lockbox using um locking devices, cable locks, any of those sorts of devices that can keep our children from accessing those firearms.

And whether you own a gun or not, it's so important to talk to your children about firearms.

And if they encounter one, what they what they need to do with that.

Uh, the first the most important things that we talk about are stop, don't touch, leave the area, and tell a trusted adult.

Those are the most basic parts of what we uh want to instill in our children.

So no matter how comfortable you may feel with a firearm uh and your experience, it's really important to not project that arm to our children uh because their immature brains and developing uh bodies, children and adolescents, adolescents cannot be expected to consist consistently make safe decisions when left alone uh around a firearm.

So, together through education, safe storage, and honest conversations, we can prevent tragedies and keep our children safe.

Thank you.

Alright.

For uh media, if you'd like to set up at the Fort Worth Police Department table for Betty Calzadas, uh Officer Calzada's presentation.

Uh, we welcome you to do that.

We're gonna take some pictures and um if you would like an interview in Spanish, Chief Garcia and Dr.

Guzman will be available.

Thank you.