Operation West Laurel Shows Delaware Lt. Governor Success After Three Years

(LAUREL, Del) – Operation West Laurel, based out of the new Zion United Methodist Church, is celebrating three years of serving teens in the community, and they’ve made a tremendous impact bringing violent shooting numbers down to zero.

Amy Handy Co-Founded the group in 2023, to offer a space where Laurel teens can have can feel safe and valued…

But it’s also helped honor the memory of the young adults lost.

“We lost three of my youth, three former students to gun violence in 2024. We did experience one loss in our community and 2025 zero fatalities. 2026 to date, zero fatalities,” says Amy.

Just ask Laurel teen Mahi Sturgis, a member of Operation West Laurel.

Who feels he and his friends have been able to help make a huge difference, even getting the opportunity to present the group’s success to the Delaware Lt. Governor, Kyle Evans.

Sturgis tells WMDT, “Me personally, what it feels like to be part of that is it shows that it’s not going to waste and it and it keeps us motivated, even though the numbers could be higher. But it shows you that the little things that you do matter.”

And with the teen gun violence deaths down to zero, they now want to spread that message of community in hopes of bringing that number down in surrounding areas.

Proving that even the smallest groups can have the largest impacts.

Amy says, “We are confident that the program, along with our partners, the police department, all other organizations that are working in partnership, we all have a part in reducing gun violence.”