New calls for violence on the Las Vegas trail in Fort Worth after a child was shot dead while playing outside.

FORT WORTH, Texas. Rev. Sela Finau is fairly new to Fort Worth. This is the largest city she has ever lived in as a pastor. She really never had to worry about her personal safety as a member of the clergy.

“Who doesn’t want a safe area?” Finau said. “Who doesn’t want other things and a safe space for their children and their families? So, we were just trying to partner with various organizations that are already here in the community to work and provide a better quality life for the families in the neighborhood.”

Although Finau is still studying the Las Vegas Trail area, where she became the pastor of Western Hills United Methodist Church seven months ago, she already knows what she has heard about it.

However, Finau remains firm in her work as a church leader.

Her ministry and the impact it has on society far outweighs everything else, especially as she firmly believes her assignment is God-sent despite her early exposure to danger.

Finau said: “I had to call law enforcement during the first 30 days of my stay in the area because I heard gunfire outside the parsonage where I live.”

One of the latest police raids involves a shootout at the Villas at Sierra Vista apartments on the Las Vegas Trail. The boy told police that he heard gunshots while playing outside and then realized that the bullet had hit him in the calf. His family rushed him to the hospital, where emergency room staff treated him with a non-life-threatening injury.

This is the second shooting in a week.

From February 1, 2022 to February 2023, the department received 661 police responses in the Las Vegas Trail area, according to Fort Worth Police. Forty-one of these involved aggravated assault, and two of those cases involved homicide investigations.

There are non-profit organizations such as Las Vegas Trail Rise that work to improve the quality of life in the area.

Las Vegas Trail Rise Executive Director Paige Charbonnet shared a statement about Sunday’s shooting: “Our community is heartbroken by the events of this weekend in which an innocent child was caught in the crossfire. We will be here to help him and his family move forward through this trauma.”

Finau believes their work in the Las Vegas Trail community can also help improve life there. In fact, she considers it part of her Christian duty.

Western Hills UMC has been helping families and individuals through their food pantry for many years.

“Our mission as a church is to help them and remind them that they are worthy and that God loves them and that we are here as a church to help them in whatever circumstances they face in life. Because the struggle and much more that we go through in life comes to every person and individual soul at a certain time of the year,” said Finau.

“I believe the church is here for a purpose, and it doesn’t matter who surrounds the church, whoever is in the neighborhood.”

Fort Worth Police are using Project Safe Neighborhoods grants to fight crime along the Las Vegas Trail corridor, hoping to also reduce future police retaliation.