ORLANDO, Fla. — He’s known as Tank on the streets of Orlando. And at just 14 years old, he’s already “done time” in juvenile detention for armed burglary.

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Tank said he grabbed the gun from his friend’s house one night, and on a walk to McDonald’s, he took it and went inside the house.

“I felt like I was going to get away, but it was the opposite,” Tank said.

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His mom, Monique Reeding, said the arrest and the consequences have been hard.

The story could easily end there as a statistic, and what some would say is an eventual pipeline to doing time behind bars as an adult.

In Orlando, there’s a fight to turn it around before it’s too late.

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Ruben Saldana is part of the Credible Messengers, a group of former gang members and adults once involved in violence, who turned their lives around. Saldana is hard at work in Orlando.

Juvenile Justice Center statistics obtained by Channel 9 show a trend.

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In July 2019, there were 19 juvenile felonies in Orlando. In July 2021, there were 38.

Saldana is now part of the mayor’s task force to help stop youth violence. Specifically, he’s working to bring other mentors in to help children turn things around.

Florida Dept. of Juvenile Justice launches new mentorship program aimed at helping dads Fathers across Central Florida will soon have more resources to be better dads. (Angela Jacobs, WFTV.com/WFTV)

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