“This latest tragedy was really the final straw”: Colorado Springs neighborhood seeks solutions after fatal stabbing

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Those who live around Remington Park are looking to take long-term steps to secure the safety of their neighborhood after a June stabbing resulted in a death.

On June 17, police were called to Remington Park for a report of a stabbing. First responders found a gravely injured man and attempted to resuscitate him, but he died at the scene. Police identified the victim as Tadeo Francisco Villavicencio-Ramirez.

Nearly one month after his death, community members gathered at the CSPD Stetson Hills substation to talk with police, city leaders, utility, and D49 officials about safety solutions.

Organizer and community member Joshua Bouwkamp said the killing of Villavicencio-Ramirez is the final straw after multiple incidents have made residents feel unsafe.

“I see things all the time, we have street racing, people doing drugs down at the park, all kinds of bad stuff going on down there so we just want to make sure that our voices are heard,” he said.

Bouwkamp said his goal was to get more lights around the park and get more of a police presence around the park after dark.

With family members of Villavicencio-Ramirez in attendance, people spent the next two-and-a-half hours sharing their complaints and working on creating solutions.

With the help of police and utility officials, community members began the process of creating a neighborhood watch and getting more street lights around the park.

District Six councilman Mike O’Malley said the meeting went how he expected it to go.

“We were able to get them to be able to say, ‘Look, it’s not just a policing problem, this is a community problem and we need to be able to pull together and fix it’, and I applaud them for coming here to do that,”’ he said.

Police officials also told residents they will focus on the park over the coming weeks.

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