Leaders on city's southeast side organizing Amnesty Day

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Three victims. Three shootings. Three days.

Those are the statistics police are working with trying to solve homicide investigations that happened over this past Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Those shootings move the total of homicides in Fort Wayne this year up to nine.

A neighbor who lives by one of the shootings but did not want to be identified said something has to be done.

"It really made me feel really nervous, upset, and very frustrated. I was just scared...Because it was so close, and to hear this person laying in the street saying help, help...Nobody deserves to die that way."

The Guardians of Police, a group within the Fort Wayne Police Department, in partnership with City Council, the NAACP, and Urban League created Gun Amnesty Day which will be held April 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Urban League parking lot located at 2135 Hanna Street. Police say the purpose is not to take away guns from responsible citizens but to get guns off the streets and out of the hands of criminals and to give police some help solving these crimes.

"The things we're trying to do is get the people that want to tell but don't want us at their house which is understandable, so write it on a piece of paper, do not sign your name," said Timothy Russell, the president of the Guardians of Police and an officer with the Fort Wayne Department.

People can mail in the sheet of paper or drop it in a box at Amnesty Day. If people also want to turn in guns but can't go to the actual event, they can call the police department, and they will arrange a way to pick up the guns. Everything is confidential.

"We're trying to deteriorate maybe some of the shootings in the neighborhoods, some of the homicides in the neighborhoods, some of the 'I don't want to tell what's going on because I'm scared,'" Russell said.

Police said there are no new leads in the homicide investigations.

If anyone has more information about any of the crimes or wants to know more about Amnesty Day, he or she can call Officer Russell directly at (260) 427-2232 or call the Guardian hotline at (260) 745-5494.