On Saturday, musician and rapper TanDaGod was shot and killed in front of a beauty store in Oakland. During the evening of July 10, an Alameda man shot and killed his wife, two young sons and in-laws. At least 15 people were shot after a Juneteenth celebration in Oakland.
And on the national stage, a man used a rifle purchased by his father to attempt to shoot former President Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday, killing one person and critically injuring two more.
As firearms remain a stronghold in American culture and politics, gun violence continues to be an epidemic that makes the United States an outlier compared to other countries when it comes to the number of people injured and killed by others with guns. And while California’s rate of firearm-related mortality is lower than the United States as a whole, gun violence continues to impact the state — and the people of the Bay Area.
Halfway through 2024, in California alone, over 600 people have died due to gun violence — which includes murder, accidental incidents and suicide — according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. There were over 1,000 such deaths per year in both 2023 and 2022, and while tragedy has struck communities of varying backgrounds, gun violence disproportionately affects communities of color, particularly Black and Latino people. An August 2023 report by the California Dept. of Justice found that “gun homicide caused 38% of deaths among Black teenage males over [2020–21], compared to 4% of deaths among white teenage males.” From 2019 to 2021, California authorities also found that there was a 2% increase in the number of domestic violence calls – with an 80% increase in firearms being used or threatened.
But gun violence, whether it kills or not, can also ripple outward and bring trauma to many others around it — whether that’s the people who survive being shot, the loved ones of those who’ve died or folks who witness a shooting or are in the surrounding area when it happens. And surviving gun violence like this is “a lifelong journey,” said Keenon James, the director of Everytown Survivor Network, a survivors group that advocates for gun violence prevention.
“It’s not as if it’s something that you get over in a year or some period of time,” said James, who was a child when his own brother was shot and killed in Takoma Park, Maryland, 30 years ago. “The timetable is unknown, and it varies for everyone.”
So, if you’ve been impacted by gun violence yourself, where can you find support around the Bay Area? Keep reading for a list of resources that can offer assistance to survivors.
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Where can you find support after gun violence
Go at your own pace…
First of all, don’t discount your need for support just because the gun violence in question wasn’t recent. Everytown Survivor Network’s James emphasizes that trauma “may manifest later on” and can be stirred up by “something that occurs later in life that makes you think back to that instance.”
“Going through that type of experience definitely changes your life,” he said, and you should seek the kind of support that feels best for you and your circumstances.
…and be open to different sources of potential healing
Meaningful support after experiencing gun violence might not always take the form you — or others in your life — might expect.
Derrick Benson, a resource coordinator at Oakland-based advocacy organization Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP), told KQED after the Juneteenth tragedy that healing can look like many different things. For example, APTP pointed to organizations that provided acupuncture or herbal foot soaks — both of which were offered at their Healing Portal event directly after the shooting.
James said some people may also find respite in advocacy work, as “most gun violence survivors are focused on making their community safer.”
“Advocacy allows us to make sure someone’s loved one continues to have a voice, that they’re remembered, and they’re not forgotten, ” he said.
Reach out to local support centers
The following is a non-exhaustive list of locations and hotlines around the Bay Area offering mental health support to people who have survived gun violence. Remember that costs and types of services offered can sometimes change, so be sure to clarify with these resources directly to ensure you’re getting what you need (and what you expect.)
You can also consult the California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB) database, which includes county-specific assistance. NPR’s Lifekit also has a guide on how to start therapy, and in 2020, KQED published a guide to finding culturally competent therapy in the Bay Area.
Seek support from your health care provider (if you’re comfortable doing so)
Not everyone feels comfortable asking for support within the medical profession, Benson said.
He noted that for many communities, especially Black and brown folks, going to the hospital or doctor’s can be “kind of iffy” due to the ongoing impacts of the history of bias and racism in medicine in the United States.
If you do decide to go to your primary care doctor, NPR has a guide on advocating for yourself during the appointment, which includes advice like coming prepared with a list of priorities you want to discuss and be ready to leave a doctor who does not appear to be listening to you.
California also has a state office dedicated to patient advocacy, where you can find county-specific resources and assistance.
For those who don’t feel comfortable seeking support from their health care provider, community organizations — like APTP’s pop-up healing portals — can alternatively help guide families to the resources they need for healing, Benson said.
How does compensation for gun violence survivors work?
Each state has its own Crime Victim Compensation Program, which is a board that may be able to provide financial support for victims of various crimes, including gun violence and their families. In California, that program is called the California Victim Compensation Board, or CalVCB. Your county may also have its own Victim Witness Assistance Center, which could offer support to survivors of violence.
Everytown Survivor Network’s James urged people to turn to the funding that could be available to them, like state funding or supportive organizations. “There are many opportunities available, and I encourage people to take advantage of that opportunity to look into them,” he said — recommending that you “see what’s available, what might suit you and what might be accessible to you based on your health care needs, what your health coverage and benefits may be.”
In the CalVCB’s 2022–23 fiscal year, the program received 39,000 applications and provided $49.7 million in compensation, with assault claims accounting for the largest share of the assistance provided. These funds cover services like burials (2023’s largest expense), income loss and relocation.
The application and instructions for applying for compensation can be found on CalVCB’s website. There is also a Good Samaritan Compensation application for those who attempted to help in a crisis and suffered personal injury, property damage or even death as a result..
You must apply for compensation within seven years of the crime, although it’s possible to file for a consideration. Applications take around 90 days to process.
