Community Leaders Confront Rash Of Shootings Killing, Injuring Baltimore Teens
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore has experienced another violent stretch of days. Since the start of the week, several people have been shot, including three teenagers.
WJZ went to the Brooklyn neighborhood where a teenager was shot on Valentine's Day. That teen later died. Residents have expressed a sense of hopelessness and feeling afraid
"Every night we hear gunshots," says Lorie Waldvogel, whose daughter reportedly knew the 16-year-old victim. "It's getting bad around here, with all these shootings.
Another young lady spoke with WJZ as she walked along Patapsco Avenue. She said she doesn't feel safe.
"We had someone stabbed in broad daylight not even 500 feet away from us," Makayla Greason said.
A mother who said she's lived in Baltimore all of her life said she constantly calls her teen son when he's not home.
"Looking over my shoulder every day, because I got to make sure there ain't no bullets flying anywhere. It's just crazy out here," she said.
According to statistics from Baltimore City Police, as of Thursday morning, 49 people were murdered so far in 2022, compared to 38 at the same time last year. Nonfatal shootings have also increased.
"It doesn't just affect the people who are doing the crime, it affects the whole neighborhood, "said Corey Winfield, site director for the Brooklyn branch of Baltimore City Safe Streets. "A lot of our young people 30 and under are succumbing to gun violence."
In response to a level of violence that feels like it's stifling neighborhoods, Baltimore City Safe Streets organized a community walk in Brooklyn. The hope is that their presence will reach someone before they pick up a gun to commit a crime.
Religious leaders, community members and Safe Streets organizers from across Baltimore participated in the walk.
"What happens with violence, it clusters, it spreads, it transmits out so, that's what we're trying to stop and we're trying to stop it by being the antidote to that," Winfield said.
