Close friend remembers victim killed in East Baltimore mass shooting, activists cleanse scene

BALTIMORE -- Gary Crum spent his Sunday doing what has become a tradition, playing basketball with his friends on a court off North Spring Street in the Oliver community. 

One of those friends -- Anthony Martin -- was killed in a shooting that left seven other people injured in East Baltimore.

"We were just all out here having fun on Sunday," Crum said. "Unfortunately, I had to leave so I didn't have a chance to make it back here in time. He was just a good person, man. He didn't deserve to die. I just feel so bad because it shouldn't have happened."

Remembering Anthony 

Anthony Martin was a father and was just 36 years old when he was killed.  

"We've got to find out a way to love one another, to figure out our disputes without violence," Crum said. "We've got to make sure this doesn't happen anywhere else."

Neighbors had long raised concerns about a motorcycle club in the area. The club was holding a gathering when the violence erupted. 

"This was avoidable," Crum said to WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. "They had no business doing parties because the community has already been complaining about this stuff for years and years and years."

"Cleansing" the scene

Crum was in the community Tuesday as Erricka Bridgeford, an anti-violence activist and founding member of the Baltimore Peace Movement, cleansed the area with sage.

Bridgeford even kissed the ground where Martin was killed.

"I came here to pour love and light into this space, to reclaim it as sacred ground, to check on community members and see if there's anything people need," Bridgeford said. "Just to make sure that murder does not have the last say. People will also have a memory that love showed up here."

She knows the pain of losing a loved one. Her nephew remains hospitalized from a shooting in April. 

Bridgeford said Baltimore must do better. 

"I know what people are feeling so that's what makes it important to me to show up with my broken heart that now has more room to crack love into this space at a time when people really need to know that they are not alone, and people love them and care about them," Bridgeford said. "My hope and dream is that we love one another in a way that reminds us that when we hurt someone else, we are also hurting ourselves. When we hurt another family, our family also suffers."

Crum said he will not allow his friend's death to stop the good happening in this community.

"We're going to come here and make sure this area is a safe haven for the kids, make sure it's safe for them to come out here," Crum said. "And we'll come out and play ball on Sundays like we've been doing—and just keep his name alive. I believe that's what he'd want us to do." 

School giveaway

The community is holding a backpack and school supply giveaway on Thursday, August 22, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the scene of the shooting, the Calvin B. Scruggs Sr. Memorial Park, in another effort to reclaim the area for something positive. 

Homicides, shootings remain down 

There have been 125 homicides in Baltimore so far this year, down from 174 in 2023. That is a reduction of 28%. 

There have been 263 non-fatal shootings in the city this year compared to 421 at this time last year. That is a 38% reduction.