LUMBERTON, N.C. (AP) - Robeson County will be home of the nation's first youth violence prevention center to focus on rural areas.

The Fayetteville Observer reported Saturday that the center will be funded by a $6.5 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers say Robeson County was chosen because of its higher than average rate of poverty and its ethnic diversity. More than two-thirds of the county is nonwhite.

The county also has a long history of violent crime with a youth death rate at 124 per 100,000. That's nearly twice the state average.

The project will be led by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Similar centers opened in larger metropolitan areas following the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado.