Christian Garcia would’ve turned 21 on March 15, 2016. Last August, friends and family held a candlelight vigil in his memory in the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx, where Garcia had lived. He was shot in the chest and killed at a park in Soundview on Aug. 2, 2015, a victim of street violence. Since he died, a hole has been left in the hearts of his family and many friends.

“I didn’t think it was real. Like, I had just spoke to him a couple hours before he died. Then all of a sudden I get a call that he was killed,” said Kiara Colon, 19, a friend of Garcia. “I then felt hate cause the bullet wasn’t for him; he should still be here; he was so young.”

Garcia’s life wasn’t supposed to be taken that night. He was just a bystander, hanging with other friends when a gang member allegedly began shooting at the park. The bullet was meant for someone else, a would-be victim who fled. Garcia, struck by the stray bullet, was left to die. According to Colon, the alleged killer was himself killed in March 2016 over an argument.

Hennessy Gonzalez, 17, said she didn’t really know Garcia, but regardless, she’s 100 percent against street violence. “I think gang violence is really unnecessary; you’re all doing the same thing, just repping different colors,” said Hennessy, a student at Stevenson High School, located a block from where Garcia was killed. “We are jeopardizing our lives for people’s stupidity.”

“I think it’s calmed down a little, although there are still some confrontations going on. Our community is not [as] at risk as it used to be,” said Isaias Vega, 17, a student at Stevenson High School. “But they’re getting used to the violence and that’s something we’re doing wrong.”

From January to May 2015, 82 shootings were recorded in the Bronx, and so far in 2016, there have been 68, according to NYPD statistics. Some of the shootings were because of street violence, any type of violence that takes place in a public area. Many teens say they fear leaving the house because the streets are unsafe.

In some instances, many are afraid to walk out of their house wearing certain colors because they might get mistaken for a gang member.

A former gang member from the Bronx, who asked to remain anonymous because he feared for his safety, said that he joined the Crips, a reputed gang, at the age of 13 because he was “young and dumb.”

“Gang violence is wack now, but kids still join them because everyone wants to have a name out for themselves and they also want protection,” said the ex-gang member, who is 33. Some see personal advantages to gang membership.

Milagros Reyes-Luciano, a social worker at Pablo Neruda Academy High School in the Bronx, said she’s been working with teens dealing with street violence since 2004. “You never get used to it; it always feels bad. Teens’ lives are supposed to be safe, not endangered. It makes them grow up faster, and not in a good way,” she told the Norwood News. “But I think we can bring awareness to the kids and show them that violence isn’t the answer, because it’s not fair. Most of the people who get killed are innocent. It’s sad.”

Reyes-Luciano said a couple of years ago she met with a professor from Fordham University and a couple of members from different gangs on the Stevenson High School campus. They all sat around and talked about the dangers of street and gang violence.

“It actually helped out our school a little,” she said. “You don’t see as much gang violence on school grounds anymore.”