POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Youth gang violence is on the rise in the Tampa Bay area, authorities say.
It's an issue recently highlighted after the death of 15-year-old Quashawn Burgess Jr., who was shot and killed just outside of Winter Haven this week.
"Gang violence is on the increase across this nation. And of course, Polk County is no exception," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a press conference about Quashawn's murder.
Judd said Quashawn was affiliated with gangs, and believes he was targetted by other gang members.
"While our crime is at a 51-year-low, for which we're proud of, we've got problems with kids shooting kids, and primarily they're gang bangers," said Judd.
Criminologist Dr. Alex del Carmen is currently a professor and associate dean of the School of Criminology at Tarleton State University. He has been a police consultant for more than two decades.
Del Carmen said kids as young as 9 or 10 years old are being pulled into gangs.
"A lot of gang members are recruited on the way to school. So we found out that many of them actually walk with already made gang members and they sort of transition into that, but they're not beaten into a gang, they're not recruited into a gang, they simply transition to a gang by virtue of their commute to and from school," said del Carmen.
On Tuesday, Quashawn's mother told 10 Tampa Bay that her son joined a gang after being bullied in school. It's a story del Carmen said is common.
"You will find that those gangs actually protect the child from being bullied by another gang or simply by somebody else," said Del Carmen. "It also has to do with social ties and bonds. What we have found in our studies is that they create a relationship that is almost family-like, you know, with a gang, and they begin to sort of become very cold and distant from the other relationships that they have with family members."
Del Carmen said the best deterrent for kids getting wrapped up in gangs is a watchful guardian at home.
"It really does take a community and it does take families for them to be situationally aware of their kids, for them to take part in those conversations," he said. "If I had little kids right now, if my kids were small, I would start talking to them at the age of 6 or 78, because, by the time they're 9 years old, many of them are already affiliated with a gang."
Judd agrees such support is needed, starting with keeping kids in school.
"We've got to have moms and dads and guardians and friends helping us and the school system and the community. We're not going to let kids shoot kids," he said.
The investigation into who killed Quashawn is still open.
If you know anything, you're urged to contact the Polk County Sheriff's Office or contact Crime Stoppers to be eligible for a $5,000 reward.