Harrisburg, Pa. - Residents are calling for more to be done to stop the violence in Harrisburg. It looks their calls are being answered by others in the midstate.

Harrisburg police say the department is strained. Officers are out on extra shifts. But Dauphin County is offering detectives and York County is sending a citizens group to help educate residents about what they can do to stop the violence.

Dauphin County leaders said the recent violence in Harrisburg is unprecedented.

"It is very out of the ordinary," said District Attorney Ed Marsico. "I can't remember this many shootings in this short a time period."

There have been seven shooting incidents in seven days. The violence has caught the attention of the Guardian Angels in York City. At least 15 members are coming to Harrisburg on Thursday, where they'll encourage residents to form their own chapter and take back the streets.

"I believe that Harrisburg is a prime candidate for starting a group of Guardian Angels, which is basically just a step above your neighborhood watch, which I'm sure they have in Harrisburg, so if those people just get together and become Guardian Angels, they can make a difference in their own community," said York Chapter leader Mike Smith.

Marsico said the problem plaguing many communities is that guns are easily available.

"The number of illegal firearms on the streets of harrisburg is outrageous. It's ridiculous," he said.

"These kids have guns and they're not scared to use them," said Harrisburg Police Chief Charles Kellar.

Police have had their hands full lately, so the district attorney is volunteering two county detectives to work with city investigators.

"As long as the city needs the services of these detectives, we'll be glad to provide their services at this time," Marsico said.

Community leaders are getting involved too. They hosted an anti-violence rally Tuesday evening. Thursday night, they're planning to meet again to discuss more crime prevention options.

"We'll take any help we can get," said Kellar. "I'm viewing tomorrow night's meeting as a very positive thing. We've got a lot of community leaders coming, it's going to give an opportunity to explain what we've done."

With all that's been going on, we were wondering, where's Mayor Reed? abc27 News has made numerous attempts to contact him, but has not responded to requests for an interview.

City Council President and mayoral candidate Linda Thompson has also been unreachable and has not returned our calls.

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