BATESBURG-LEESVILLE, S.C. — Batesburg-Leesville council members believe jobs and community engagement could put a stop to gun violence in their community.
Members met at their scheduled council meeting to discuss a proposal which they believe could help curb gun violence.
The idea to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into local technical colleges to provide training and education to help get people jobs.
Councilman Stephen Cain believes the answer is jobs saying, "my thinking is that if you have a job you're not at a cookout on a Wednesday night with nothing else better to do."
"This is the number one thing we can do to curb gun violence," said Cain.
The meeting comes from multiple town halls where residents talked about their concerns about safety in the neighborhoods.
RELATED: Batesburg-Leesville community calls for action, justice following shooting death of 11-year-old
The meetings also come after the fatal shooting of Tashya Jay, an 11-year-old killed last month. The young girl was playing at a friend's house when bullets fired went through the walls of her home killing her and injuring her friend.
The proposal that the community wants is to set aside part of the $2.7 million allocated to the Batesburg-Leesville community from the American Recovery Plan, and use it to create jobs.
"We want to set aside $300,000 and to improve that industrial park and create jobs and bring new industry into the town," said Cain.
Batesburg-Leesville Mayor Lancer Shull says creating jobs is only part of the solution. "There's not one thing that's going to curb gun violence in any community in the United States of America," he said.
"One hundred percent economic development does play a part but its one piece... We need to have small groups of community members and educating themselves with Lexington County's gang unit to understand what to identify and who to call, that's the information that should be out there, " he went on to say.
Longtime resident Pansy Buzhardt believes the answer is community engagement, saying, "We all have to take on as much responsibility because we are our brothers keepers."
Council will vote on the proposal at next months council meeting.