Morning news anchor Tricia Sloma reported early Sunday that South Bend is facing an "uptick in violence" as the city's mayor Pete Buttigieg runs for president.
In a clip first flagged by America Rising, Sloma, a co-anchor of WNDU-TV's Emmy-nominated 16 Morning News reported there have been four shootings in South Bend over the last month.
"There's been an uptick in violence in South Bend. In fact, four shootings in the city in less than a month," Sloma said before interviewing Buttigieg. "That's not exactly the chamber of commerce headline you'd like to share if you're running for president, but it's what Mayor Pete Buttigieg faces as he continues to shine in the national spotlight."
After discussing multiple policy issues with Buttigieg, Sloma pressed Buttigieg on the increase in violence on his watch.
"This uptick in violence, we can't just blame it on seasonal weather and the fact that violence by nature increases during the warm seasons. What is your reaction to that and what do you hope to perhaps change?" Sloma asked.
Buttigieg said they are dealing with these issues through communication with law enforcement and community groups. He went on to note that the number of shootings this year are down compared to last year.
"We need to drive that number down eventually to zero. That's the promise land, but we know we're a long way from that, especially when mayors like me have to deal with gun violence with one hand tied behind our back because the state of Indiana won't allow us to do anything about gun safety, so we only get to work on the enforcement and community partnership side," Buttigieg said.
"In the meantime what we need most is victim and witness cooperation, so that we can figure out whether these instances are related and make sure that we are stopping a cycle of violence from leading to yet another incident because I don't want to get that text message tonight or over this weekend," Buttigieg added.