KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Some Kalamazoo residents are concerned about violence in the community after two separate weekend incidents ended in gunfire.

“A lot of people don’t feel safe when they hear about stuff like this so I just advise everybody to, if we can just put the guns down,” said Dontray Hemphill, who works with a Kalamazoo nonprofit that aims to decrease violence.

Seven people showed up to Kalamazoo hospitals this past weekend after two separate shootings happened hours apart. Kalamazoo police say the first took place Saturday at 11:58 p.m. at a strip mall parking lot on Gull Road. Witnesses reported hearing eight to 20 gunshots and when officers arrived, they found evidence of a large gathering where shots rang out in the parking lot.

On Monday morning, the scene was clear, but people in the area said nearby businesses, like the storage units and credit union, were hit with bullets. The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said a man and a woman showed up to a hospital with gunshot wounds that were not life-threatening and admitted they had been at the gathering on Gull Road.

Around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, another shooting happened at a home on W. Paterson Street near Douglas Avenue in Kalamazoo. Four men and one woman arrived at a hospital with gunshot wounds that were not life-threatening. One of them, who told police they were the intended target, said they shot back during the altercation.

KDPS responded to the Paterson Street location and recovered several firearms.

Nonprofit Michigan Transformative Collection has created a program called Community Violence Interrupter. Following the violent weekend, Hemphill, who works with MTC, urged the community to drop their weapons.

“First, I wish those individuals, I hope they are well. But we just got to put the guns down … need to not really go that far with the guns, like talk it out or something I don’t know, but just put the guns down,” Hemphill said.

He has been working to decrease gun violence in Kalamazoo through the organization Bent Not Broken.

“We go out to party to have fun. You know we all want to return home to our loved ones so if we can just talk it out. Doesn’t make you a punk or nothing like that. Just shows you that, ‘Hey I care about life, and I care about yours too.’ You both lose life by the end of the night. One could die and one could go to jail forever so that’s something to think about,” said Hemphill.

He also talked about how gun violence impacts a person’s mental health and even businesses. It’s why he urges community members to use local resources.

“If anybody needs to reach out to reach resources … we can point you in the right directions. It’s a lot of organizations that’s part of the CVI plan so on anything that you can possibly think of, they have a resource for you. So tap into Michigan Transformation Collective or tap into the Kalamazoo Blueprint For Peace and they give you all the resources and information that you will need to get in contact with,” Hemphill said.

Kalamazoo police believe the shootings are not random and the public is not in danger.

Anyone with information about either of these shootings should call the KDPS Criminal Investigation Division at 269.337.8139 or through Kalamazoo Silent Observer at 269.343.2100.