AUSTIN (KXAN) — The day after police say someone shot and killed a 14-year-old girl at a northeast Austin apartment complex, Sean Oliver and his team stepped in.

“We were able to go into that apartment and create relationships to hopefully avoid that,” he said.

Oliver works for Life Anew, a restorative justice program that utilizes community connections to help curb violence. He said part of the Bridge at Harris Ridge Apartment Complex on East Howard Lane recently became Section 8 housing.

Police responded to a shots-fired call at the complex around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

According to APD, officers and EMS arrived on the scene and found the girl with head trauma and then began life-saving measures. The girl was transported by ambulance to a Dell Children’s Hospital where she later died.

No one is in custody at this time.

Oliver said Life Anew has groups that perform community violence intervention efforts at apartment complexes in the Rundberg and east side areas – but not the neighborhood where this shooting happened.

“We had never been in that apartment complex, but if he had resources to be able to have more people, we could be proactive rather than reactive,” he said. Oliver said he and his team not only connected with the victim’s family members but also other tenants, to get a better idea of the types of resources that could help people who live there.

“The older kids are outside and they’re smoking, so where are the kids?” he said. “That’s why we’re attempting to provide a safe space.”

Full circle, a shooting survivor’s story

“These days, kids just want to pick up a gun and shoot somebody,” said Guzman Escobar, addressing Tuesday’s apartment shooting.

He nearly suffered a similar fate just a few months ago.

“I got shot at Chicano Park,” he said.

Now, he’s a community mentor with ATX Peace, another violence intervention group in town.

“I want to be able to help,” he said.

He’s currently learning the ropes from Abel Lopez, a longtime member of the organization.

“If we’re not out there, who’s going to be out there?” said Lopez.

ATX Peace’s efforts also extend to people getting out of jail.

“There comes a time in every young man or woman’s life, they decide they don’t want to do that life anymore,” said Eddie Franz, director of operations with Jail to Jobs, a component of ATX Peace. “But they don’t have the skills or knowledge to know how to get out of it.”

This week, city and county leaders discussed funding for similar efforts.