STOCKTON, Calif. — Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs says the sudden surge in deadly shootings means more needs to be done.
"I think this tragedy of the past week reminds us [that] our work is unfinished. It is not done. And, in times of tragedy, we don't point fingers at each other but we really come together," said Mayor Tubbs.
Tubbs was hopeful that Stockton was trending in the right direction after the city saw a 40% drop in homicides from a year ago.
However, he's now dealing with the aftermath of the past few days and trying to be proactive.
For the mayor, the weekend saw him on the phone with the Stockton police chief, Office of Violence Prevention, and other community partners. Even on Monday, Mayor Tubbs said they had an "all hands on deck meeting."
He plans on walking the neighborhoods where the homicides occurred tomorrow with the Stockton Police Department's Neighborhood Impact team, a group of officers that go door-to-door in the areas where deadly incidents happen to hear the concerns of residents.
"This tragedy doesn't define us, but what's going to define us is how we bounce back from it," said Mayor Tubbs. "And, how we come together, how we focus, how we use our unlimited police sources, how we partner with police organizations and neighborhoods to create safety."
One of the partnerships the city has linked with is the controversial Advance Peace. The gun violence reduction program, born in Richmond, pays a privately funded stipend to young people in order for them to put down their weapons.
The stipend can be up to hundreds of dollars a month once a six-month program of goals is completed.
Advance Peace Stockton director Brian Muhammad says the program kicked off last June, but he is still in the process of selecting candidates or so-called "fellows" to start the program.
The mayor says the police department is also taking guns off the street themselves.
"Just yesterday, they took three or four guns off the street in the areas near where the tragedies from this past week happened," Tubbs said.
Tubbs was also quick to point out the reason he ran for office in the first place. It followed the murder of his own cousin, 21-year-old Donnell James II, in 2010.
"This weekend has forced us to really look back and say how do we make sure we are doubling down doing everything we possibly can to create the safety that everyone in this community deserves," said Tubbs.
According to the mayor, a vigil to remember the victims is set for Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Edison High School.
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WATCH MORE: Mayor Michael Tubbs talks moving forward after deadly weekend in Stockton | Extended Interview
Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs spoke to ABC10 on Facebook Live about the path the city can take to move on from a particularly deadly weekend. Beginning on Friday, five people were killed in Stockton in three separate shootings.