MIAMI – Teenagers and Miami police officers came together this summer in response to recent gun violence to paint a mural in preparation of National Night Out.
"We wanted to have different images that people can see and relate with," MLK Mural Project artist Kyle Holbrook said.
With paint brushes in hand, teens in Liberty City have been hard at work all summer beautifying a wall outside of a Miami police station.
The mural contains an important message.
"Just to draw attention to the victims of gun violence that happened in Liberty City so often, you know, the tragedy that happened in Parkland, officers who were shot in the line of duty," Holbrook said.
The idea behind the mural came from Holbrook, who joined forces with the Miami Police Department and 15 kids from an organization called Liberty City Trust.
They've been painting side by side along Northwest 62nd Street for several weeks, forging unlikely relationships.
"Most of the time, you don't see police working with people from the community," one teen, Devon'te Price, said. "You see a different side of them. Not like what you hear people say about them. They aren't like that."
Included in the bright display of vibrant colors are officers who died in the line of duty, along with other victims of senseless gun violence, such as Kimson Green, 17, who was shot and killed earlier this year.
For Price, 17, the mural project is dear to his heart because he knew Green well.
"I was actually with him the day before he died," Price said.