A lot can change in a matter of months. For Robert Leyva, that holds true when it comes to Fair Avenue.
"It's a lot different," the Riverside Neighborhood Association representative told KENS 5 on Monday.
The active street on the city's south side was the first project the neighborhood association took on.
"We wanted to get rid of the drug houses, we wanted to get rid of the drug seekers and they were using this intersection right here," Leyva said as he pointed towards the intersection of Fair Avenue and I-37 Frontage Road.
"Fortunately once we got the SAFFE officers it really made us accelerate in that goal. We were making progress and all of the sudden this happens."
On Friday July 26, 77-year-old Jose Rodriguez was pumping gas when two men approached him, one shot him in the face before both took off. No arrests have been made.
"For me, it was pretty gut wrenching, the senselessness of it why would anybody do this to someone," Robert Leyva said.
That senselessness has the Neighborhood Association and the District 3 Council renewing their calls for an additional police substation on the southeast side.
Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran tells KENS 5 over the phone she's working with the new neighborhood associations to push for more patrol.
"We are now working together in unifying our voices together to see more police patrol to get more police officers in and to get another substation," Councilwoman Viagran said.
"I think we see a new of level of engagement that is happening and residents are coming together and working together."
"We're not going to stop trying to make things better," Leyva reiterated.
Leyva said Friday's shooting fueled the neighborhood's drive to try and find those responsible to bring justice and peace.
"If you're going to do something like that in our neighborhood we're not going to give up," he said. We're not going to forget, we're going to get after you, we're going to do anything we can to try and help."
Visitation and a rosary for Rodriguez is scheduled for Thursday evening at the Missions Park Funeral Chapels on Southeast Military Drive.