A homicide Saturday in the city of Buffalo comes amid a spike in shootings since the beginning of the year. Time Warner Cable News reporter Kevin Jolly talked with two community activists about the increase in gun violence. 

BUFFALO, N.Y. --  Coming off a year that saw a 35 percent drop in homicides, the shooting and homicide rate in Buffalo is ahead of last year's pace. 

From January 1, 2015, to April 3, 2015, there were four homicides, one was a shooting. For that same period this year the city saw eight homicides. Six were from gunshots. Non-fatal shootings have also spiked, with police investigating dozens of shooting incidents.      

"I mean it's a lot of shootings going on. I know its a lot more shootings than homicides, and I'm not OK with either one," said Dwayne Ferguson.  

Ferguson heads MAD DADS, a grassroots organization that patrols neighborhoods in an effort to help curb violence. Ferguson says one of the keys to stopping the gun violence on the streets is making it safe for community members to speak out.

"The bottom line comes down to, 'Who are they gonna tell?' If they tell somebody in the community is it going to be confidential, going to that person and make sure they go to the right person to make it happen?  Yes, it is people like that in the community and the most important thing is we have to have the confidence of our people in the community to make sure they do the right thing," said Ferguson.

"I don't want to necessarily attribute it to the weather, but the weather does have something to do with the ramping up of shooting because it presents opportunity. If it was cold and frigid out, people wouldn't be out. They would not be doing that," said Pastor James Giles.      

Giles heads Back to Basics Outreach Ministries and is a member of Buffalo Peacemakers. He says the unseasonably warm winter coupled with simmering tensions may be to blame for many of the shootings. He also commends the Buffalo Police Department for its efforts in reducing the number of homicides last year.

He agrees with Ferguson: Now the real effort has to come from the community to help stop the shootings. He encourages people to speak up if they see something.

"It's not as grave as it's been feared or projected, but the community has the power to stop this, slow this down to a significant crawl," said Giles.

Giles says they plan to launch a campaign this summer to educate people about the risks of "saying something."