Anti-gun violence advocates gathered for an emotional call to action after the deadly shooting of an 18-year-old on Tuesday evening.

Zanier Childs was fatally shot Saturday night in front of a home on New Jersey Avenue, less than a mile from where he lived.

An 18-year-old girl who was with him was also shot and is expected to recover from a gunshot wound to her arm.

Several community leaders and local organizations stood with Childs’ mother, Krystal, who was too overwhelmed with grief to speak.

“She is forever going to have to deal with this,” one advocate said. “We are all here now, but I tell people, after the lights and cameras go away, this mother is forever traumatized.”

Speakers urged neighbors to do more than mourn, calling on parents, educators and community members to intervene early and speak directly to young people about the realities and consequences of gun violence.

“What are we doing?” another advocate asked. “We have to be really real about what we say and stand on that. Let’s start telling these kids when we see them.”