Such was the case with the 10-year-old wounded by a stray bullet along with his 18-month-old brother, who was shot through the hips as he lay in his crib. Gang members had taken aim at their teen-age brother outside the house.

But the picture of that bullet-eaten arm served to drive home another pivotal point. Determined not to end up on a morgue table, the 10-year-old had turned away from gangs and violence to tutor other youngsters and work with a peer conflict mediation program at his school.

That's the image educators and others hope will inspire middle- and high-school students in Hardin County, particularly in Radcliff where gang actitity affects some sections of the city. Radcliff police officer Bryce Shumate said law enforcement has limited success fighting gangs by itself. He encouraged the students to talk -- to officers, to teachers, to counselors.

"You know what's going on in Radcliff," Shumate said. "You know there's places in Radcliff where there's shootings every night. You know there's places in Radcliff where young people have guns every day, and I can't do anything about it unless you all tell me."

As for Nawojczyk, who retired as coroner of Pulaski County in Little Rock, Ark., in 1994, he took up a personal battle against gang violence after seeing its aftermath professionally. He often called on his experiences or incidents that occurred in his home county with the escalation of juvenile and gang violence.

Nawojczyk's extensive research on the issue helped lead to his appointment as adviser to the Arkansas Attorney General's Youth Gang Task Force and work as a consultant to various law enforcement and education agencies.

HBO featured Nawojczyk's work with gangs in a show called "Gang War: Bangin' in Little Rock."

The former director of the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory addressed several Hardin County and Fort Knox middle and high schools Wednesday. They will visit more schools today. The visit is capped off with a special parent meeting at 7 tonight in Stithton Baptist Church. Whether it was mothers mourning the loss of their children, a former gang member describing the flesh-burning sensation of being shot or an 8-year-old victim's bloody toe tagged for the morgue, Nawojczyk meant to grab students' attention in an almost MTV-style presentation of slides, video clips and catch phrases.

What he and educators hoped was that the youths wouldn't tune out the overall message. Gangs typically promise danger, death or jail time. The solution lies with each youth who chooses to turn away from a gang, turning to other people and activities for something to do. Asked if they knew anyone who had been initiated into a gang or been involved in gang violence, dozens of students raised their hands. The danger lies with guns, often carried by gang members and other youth.

"You need to understand guns are meant to kill, and bullets don't have names on them," Nawojczyk said. "You must not pick up weapons to resolve conflicts regardless of what you see on TV, regardless of what somebody else tells you."

While the delivery may have been different with less preaching, some students said they had heard the words before. A few, who did not want to be identified, predicted the talk would have no effect. But others held out promise.

"I think it will change a lot of kids' minds about being in gangs," said one girl, who caught the program with other sixth- and seventh-graders. The Radcliff resident had a scary brush with bullets that narrowly missed the car in which she was riding. Now she wishes she'd talked to police about the incident because it was connected to another crime. Nawojczyk himself recognized the limitations of a 45-minute-or-so presentation in making a difference with some youths.

"I hope today you've learned something, or at least, I've planted a seed," he said.