Group of men who survived their own violent teen years working to break the cycle

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A sixth Hopewell High School student is now facing charges in connection to a fight that led to the discovery of a gun.

That was just one of the guns found on the Huntersville campus Wednesday, when five students were arrested. Now, another 15-year-old is facing a charge for assault from the incident.

The images and implications of what happened there are still very fresh and troubling to a group of men who lived their own violent teen years and are trying to stop the violence.

“It could’ve been our worst-case scenario,” said Garcia Nelson, with Mecklenburg Council of Elders.

Nelson sighed with relief after he found that his 17-year-old stepson, a student at Hopewell High, was safe after he watched a video of a gun falling out of a student’s pocket during a fight in the hallway.

“It could’ve went any kind of way. It could’ve gone to the point that lives were taken,” he said.

Nelson survived his own violent teen years in Charlotte . Now he and a group of other former gang members, who call themselves “The Men,” are trying to steer today’s teens in another direction.

“We can reach them, but they have to be willing to accept the truth and the truth is, ‘Hey, what you’re doing, it’s not going to last long.’” Melvin Austin said.

Austin also ran with gangs as a teenager and he said when he saw the video, memories rushed back.

“It’s amazing. There’s no sense of urgency. There’s no sense of fear. It’s like they’re out there, doing what they want do,” he said.

While some are talking about mental detectors and transparent book bags as ways to keep guns out of schools, these men who survived their own violent years say the answer has to come from families and communities doing all they can to reach teenagers before it’s too late.

“If there is no parent, if there is no guardian at home, and there’s some homes that we’ve been where there’s no adult, then we have to be willing to step in to give whatever services are needed,” Nelson said.

He hopes it’s not too late already for the five teens, all arrested on Wednesday, ranging from 15 to 17. They are all now in a juvenile detention center and will stay there until their next court hearing.

A town hall is planned for the Hopewell community later in November in response to the violence. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board member Rhonda Cheek told Channel 9 that she will have information about steps being taken to improve safety. The meeting is set for Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at Lake Forest Church.

(WATCH BELOW: Several guns found on CMS campuses since students returned to school)

Several guns found on CMS campuses since students returned to school

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