Violence interrupter shot and killed in Southeast DC, source says

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - A D.C. man who tried to bring peace to his community is dead after someone shot him in Southeast on Friday afternoon.

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A source tells FOX 5 the man, who police have identified as 40-year-old Clarence Venable, served as a violence interrupter.

Venable was attending a training session on Dubois Place SE when a gunman approached and shot him.

Sean Magruder says he recruited his close friend Venable to become a violence interrupter. The program is funded by the D.C. Attorney General's Office and has the goal of mediating neighborhood disputes before they turn violent.

"He wanted to make a difference. He wanted to change the streets. He wanted his kids to grow up in a better D.C. than he grew up in," said Magruder.

Venable was a father, a role model to many and a good friend, Magruder said.

"He would want [the youth] to know that it’s us that can make a change," he said.