Everytown For Gun Safety's Gun Trafficking Intelligence Platform Helps Baltimore Police Track Illegal Guns
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- According to Baltimore Police, most of the illegal guns involved in Baltimore's crime come from outside of the city and state. A new city program is helping police figure out how the guns are getting here.
Denise Reid will never understand why her son was shot.
"He was at an intersection in northwest Baltimore in his vehicle and someone came up and shot him in the neck," Reid said.
The bullet pierced his spine, and he died two years later.
Denise's son - one of many killed by gun violence in Baltimore. But these guns don't start out here.
"We know illegal guns are not manufactured in the city but they do make their way to our city streets," said Major Milton Snead, Commander of the BPD Anti-Crime Unit.
The organization Everytown For Gun Safety has developed a new tool - a first-of-its-kind gun trafficking intelligence platform. It's rolling out in Baltimore before anywhere else.
Nick Suplina "The guns that are being used in shootings and homicides - these are the guns and the individuals associated with them that we need to focus on and this tool allows the police department to do just that,"
The tool is providing city police with a crucial piece of the puzzle.
"To locate the owners of these guns, we're able to pull the actual purchase, what store it was purchased from," said Snead.
The tool is helping mothers of Baltimore keep their sons and daughters alive
"I pray that no other mother will ever have to go through the harrowing experience that my family was subjected to," said Reid.
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