MADISON, Wis. -- As Madison police continue their investigation into Tuesday's fatal shooting on the city's West Side, there is a revived push to crack down on gun violence.

Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said more needs to be done to get young people on the right path -- and away from guns.

"It is a sad day when we lose a young, young person with so much promise," Wray said.

Karamee Collins Jr., 17, of Madison, was shot in the 2000 block of Leland Drive Tuesday night and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Police said they have arrested two 16-year-olds on homicide charges in connection with the fatal shooting. The teens have been booked in the Dane County Jail as adults, according to police. A third juvenile was also arrested on a charge of possessing a firearm.

Investigators said they have a good idea of the motive behind the shooting but they are not releasing it at this time.

Police said Collins' death is part of a disturbing trend dealing with race and gun violence that they are trying to detail.

"If you're an African-American male -- between the age of 15 and 30 -- if you possess, own, or have access -- or if you have friends your same age that possess, own, or have access to a gun -- you have increased the likelihood that you will be involved in gun violence," Wray said.

Local leaders, from the police and city to churches, are using Collins' death as a way to bring change.

"Young black males under the age of 25 are 15 times more likely to die by homicide than their white counterparts," said the Rev. David Smith, pastor at Madison's Faith Community Christian Church. "To me, that's senseless."

Community leaders, like Smith, said they hope to get through to Madison's most vulnerable targets -- and get the guns away from them.

They said they also want to get make the public aware of this very real problem.

"We need to take action as a community," Smith said. "We need to pull together to see how we can alleviate, rectify these issues, so that we can take guns off of the streets."

Wray said there's a culture that needs to change.

"There's a 'no snitch' culture," Wray said. "We're going to have to challenge that 'no-snitch' culture. We're going to have to encourage friends and family to put pressure on those who are possessing, not to possess those guns."

Police said that, like this most recent shooting, most guns involved in crimes are stolen, which, in turn, are shared with friends, family or gang members.

Some ideas have been thrown around to address the problem, such as official gun exchange programs, or rewarding for reporting programs.

Those programs will likely take time to get started, but Wray said the police department will immediately start brainstorming on how police can better work with neighborhood groups and schools to get through to young people who use or have access to guns.

Madison's Black Community Responds To Chief's Remarks

Madison's black community said that the police chief's concerns about violence and the problems facing young black men unfortunately ring true.

Many said it's now up to everyone to think about the problems facing black youth.

The Genesis International Barbershop on Madison's East Side is one place where local blacks get their hair cut, but it's also a place for the younger clients to find positive male role models, who not only take care of their hair but keep a close mentorship.

Barbers there said it's time for everyone to work together to deal with issues facing the community.

"Everybody knows your experiences create who you are. If all you're experiencing is a certain dynamic than that limits your growth, we need to give them a chance to get outside what they are used to and experience bigger and better things," said Derrick Washington, a barber and mentor at Genesis International.

"The thing that's really important and also crazy is that these kids at that age, they learn so much and they pick up on so many things. By the time they're 13 or 14, they've already picked up their habits," said Keena A., who works at Genesis International.

David Hanaway, a client at Genesis International, said he agrees with the points Wray made.

"Chief Wray is right about what's going on in Madison and Wisconsin. There is a lot of violence," Hanaway said.

"I guess (Wray is) rallying the forces, saying, 'Listen, this is a serious problem.' We need rally our forces and address it as such," Washington said.

Washington said the only way to solve the problem is with everyone's help.

"What we need is we need more media representing positive black folks. We need the schools to represent that; we need African-American teachers. We need more African-Americans in the police force who are willing to engage as friends," Washington said.

The staff at Genesis International said it does "situational mentoring," which includes a series of field trips and events in the area that put young people in places they might never see or experience otherwise.

Staff said the hope is to give young black teens more outlets to create life goals. They said it's not just a "black issue" and that it needs to be everyone's issue in order to really see things change in the community.