Organizers Hope Annual Event Will Reinforce Anti-Violence Nevada-Lidgerwood Residents Want To Keep Area Safe For Kids

One boy thought the shooting was real. His little buddy believed it was a hoax.

It turned out that Tuesday afternoon’s incident at the Nevada Playfield was a mock domestic violence demonstration. Paramedics, police and actors were showing kids the potential effects of misusing a gun.

But the event left some of the kids who gathered to watch feeling a little uneasy.

Ten-year-old Rebecca Stokes knew the incident was a fake because she was there with her mother, Vickie, a member of Spokane County’s Search and Rescue Post.

But Rebecca Stokes still said the experience left her feeling “weird.”

And that’s the effect organizers wanted.

“We want to discourage them away from violence,” said Deborah Wittwer, a volunteer with the Nevada-Lidgerwood Neighborhood Council.

The mock shooting was part of the fourth annual “Take Back the Night Campaign” sponsored by the Nevada-Lidgerwood Neighborhood Council.

Many of the group’s youth volunteers helped organize the event along with 10 law enforcement and rescue agencies in Spokane and the county.

The neighborhood council received a $700 grant from the Northeast Community Center to perform the mock demonstration. The event started at 3 p.m. and concluded Wednesday at 6:30 a.m.

Clyde Vela brought his daughter, Jade, and son, Walker, to the event. Later, the two kids sat in an ambulance and were told how paramedics do their jobs.

“I wanted to bring them out here so they won’t be scared of the paramedics, police and firefighters,” Vela said. “And we also wanted to be back out here to help the community in any way possible to take back the park.”

The Nevada Playfield next to Garry Middle School attracts many underage drinkers during the summer, according to Wittwer.

She said volunteers wanted to send a message to those kids that their behavior won’t be tolerated while at the same time encouraging potential troublemakers who may stumble upon the park early Wednesday morning to join the activities.

Officials from Spokane’s Crime Prevention Post, Sea and Fire Post, Sheriff’s Explorer Post, Drug Prevention Post, and City and County Rescue Post helped volunteers patrol the park all night Tuesday and into the morning on Wednesday.

The posts often work in conjunction with law enforcement agencies for disaster relief and emergency situations.

“Something like this catches the community’s attention,” Vickie Stokes said. “The opening to this program is always a real eye-opener.”

After the demonstration, the firefighters cooled off the kids by turning on the hoses and letting them run through the water.

Kids were also shown the inside of fire trucks, police cars and ambulances.

In the long run though, Stokes believes that anti-violence messages directed at children must start at home first and not at a park.

“My husband and I don’t allow guns in our house,” Stokes said. “I come from a family who lived in the country and hunted for food, so I know how to use them and am not afraid of them.

“But I’ve also seen too many accidents with guns involving friends and family members,” Stokes said.

She is so adamant against guns that her 5-year-old son, Brett, is forbidden from even playing with toy guns.

“Guns are not toys, but too many kids and adults are treating them like they are,” Stokes said.

, DataTimes