BATON ROUGE -- The East Baton Rouge Mayor-President's office is teaming up with law enforcement and community members to address violence and shootings in the capital city.

Thursday night, the city hosted a gun safety event called "My Responsibility" at the BRPD Headquarters. Organizers say that it includes elected officials, law enforcement, and the community working together to curb violence impacting the city's youth.

"I have sons. My reason for being here tonight and for being involved in this initiative is a community calling, but for the most part, it's for the kids that live in my house," The Baton Rouge Office of Violence Prevention's Michael "A.V." Mitchell said.

In March alone, a ten-year-old died in an accidental shooting on Government St, and an eight-year-old boy was fatally shot along San Juan Dr. after a group of people exchanged gunfire.

It's incidents like that that organizers say make tonight so important.

"We're going to put more of these things on, and we need the parents to get out of here because I'll tell you what, I learned a lot tonight. It's for the welfare of our kids and the whole family unit," East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards said.

As part of the process, the mayor's office, city-parish, and law enforcement created six groups focused on topics like youth violence prevention, gun and community violence reduction, family stability, and parent accountability.

Organizers say the groups will allow people to find ways they can assist in spreading the message.

"If we need to add more support or do some type of wrap-around services, or we need to have parent-mentors. Someone who helps a parent engage with their child or engage with the neighborhood in a way that they haven't been taught to do," Mitchell said.

So far, there have been a total of 21 homicides in Baton Rouge since the start of 2026, according to data shown by the Baton Rouge Police Department. That is the same amount as 2025 up to this point, and seven less than 2024. Additionally, two of the homicides in 2026 were considered negligent homicides, and another two were considered Domestic Intimate Partner (I-P). The data also says the actual homicide number is 16 for up to this point in 2026. 

WBRZ asked Mayor Edwards if he would consider bringing presentations like 'My Responsibility' to schools.

"I'm not opposed to that at all, I think that would be a really good, I think you just gave me a great thought," Edwards said.

Attendees were also given a free gun safety lock and taught how to safely handle a firearm, including unloading it and using the gun lock.