Just surviving is an everyday mission.

"That's why I go to work. I go home. I go see my daughter. That's it. At this day and age, it's the only thing you can do to stay alive," said Syracuse resident Courtney Bradwell.

Syracuse has seen another uptick in violence. Just two days into 2019, the city saw its first homicide.

It happened Wednesday night on South Salina Street. 

"I was coming home from work. I saw a whole bunch of cops just coming down here breaking traffic," said Bradwell.

Police responded to a call of shots fired. 

When they arrived at this apartment building, they found 36-year-old Kawon Chavis lying in the hallway with  at least one gunshot wound to his upper body. 

He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

"We began doing what we normally do in those situations which is canvassing the area, attempting to process that scene. We continue to investigate that case. We have not solved it," said Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner.

Chavis' murder is a harsh reality to many in the area of the latest example of what they've witnessed for years.

"He was my age. I don't even know how that even happened, how that even escalated, but...Now they're going to go back and retaliate and watch. It's not the end, it's a never-ending cycle," said Bradwell.

"One homicide is one too many whether it be a stabbing or a shooting or an individual actually survives the incident," said Buckner. "It's a part of a pattern that we're actually trying to break. It is my responsibility to make sure that we're putting officers in the right locations, making contact with the right individuals without unintentionally harming the communities that we're trying to serve."

Where hope would be for residents, some are just pleading for peace.

"I'm out here and I know as a human, not as a black man, as a human to stay out here and do right. You know what I mean? It's crazy out here that we can't even talk to eachother. Only how we can talk to each other is through a bullet, through a knife. It's crazy. It's crazy. All I ask is people just try talking about it these days and we'll start with that. Other than that, we ain't going to get nowhere," said Bradwell.

Police are still in the early stages of their investigation, and have no suspect information yet.

If you would like to share a tip, call Syracuse Police at 315-442-5222.