APOPKA, Fla. — For weeks parents and community members have been trying to find a solution to the violence that erupted on a Apopka football field during a Pop Warner football practice on Oct. 2.

During the incident, police say an 11-year-old grabbed a gun from his mother's car and then shot two of his 13-year-old teammates.

What You Need To Know

  • Mayor Bryan Nelson addressed efforts to stop youth violence during a meeting Thursday

  • The discussion was in response to a shooting on Oct. 2 that involved an 11-year-old and his two 13-year-old Pop Warner football teammates

  • Nelson said the city is working on anti-bullying programs for youth sports

  • NFL Defensive Tackle and Apopka native Jalen Carter donated $5,000 toward mental health services

On Thursday night, Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson held a meeting with State Attorney Andrew Bain and Tonique Brown, the mother of NFL defensive tackle Jalen Carter, to discuss the issues of violence and how they’re going to work on preventing future instances.

Brown said Carter was extremely upset when he heard about what happened on the football field on which he grew up playing the game and right away got her on the phone to brainstorm ways they could help the kids and the community.

That’s why the family has decided to donate $5,000 to the Apopka Pop Warner program to be used for mental health and counseling services for the players, their families and members of the community.

“It’s not about the money, it’s not about anything like that monetary. That cannot fix the situation," Brown said. "However, providing the proper services ongoing for the children that are affected, it will be lasting."

After the check presentation and hearing from parents, Bain spoke to the parents and youths in attendance, saying he'd personally seen a teammate gun down another player at the University Of Miami.

Bain urged the youth in attendance not to take a silent approach to a violent situation.

“It’s not worth it," he said. "My brother is no longer here over something worthless."

Bain said he is now working on ways to prevent a similar incident from happening.

“It starts with prevention," he said. "I mean, we gotta start way before they decided to pick up a gun, way before they decided that was a choice they decided to make, well before that.”

Bain also held up a gun lock, something he said could have prevented the Oct. 2 shooting.

Nelson also said the city is looking into anti-bullying programs for all youth sports teams.