BALTIMORE — Baltimore City leaders are trying to reduce gun violence and help kids stay out of it after a deadly weekend in the city.
"It's time for us to stand up and say enough is enough," said Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby.
There have been more than 125 deaths and almost 300 non-fatal shootings in Baltimore so far in 2019, including 12 people shot, two of which died in nine different shootings this weekend. Sunday, city leaders joined members of the faith community for the Baltimore United Rally on National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
"Collectively, if we come together, the difference that we can make in our communities could forever change the trajectory of our city," said Shalik Fulton with the State's Attorney's Office.
"It's a beautiful event where you have so many entities coming together for one thing, and that's to try and provide some faith and hope in the city," said Pastor Damon Dorsey with Walk By Faith Ministries.
They had resources like HIV assessments, police recruitment efforts and youth job opportunities at the rally at Parkside Shopping Center in Northeast Baltimore. They want to reach the city's young people as summer break approaches.
"We have to ensure that we get to young people before they get to the criminal justice system, and that's what today is all about. Reminding them that they are our future," said Mosby.
As part of that effort, Mosby said Baltimore Pop-Up's will start again soon, held Friday nights from 6 to 9 p.m., when crime trends show a drastic increase in youth violence.
"We wanted to be proactive and we wanted to provide opportunities for young people during those times when we want them to be productive. We saw what happened last week with the young people in our city, and we want to make sure that we are supportive of them," said Mosby.
Mayor Jack Young said he's also focusing on new ways to encourage people to come forward with information about shootings.
"We need more people to come forward, but it's about protection, and we are going to work hard with the State's Attorney, our partners in the state house and federal government to get more relocation money to get people to feel safe so they can be relocated after they turn people in," said Young.
"We're stronger together than divided, so we want folks to come forth. You see things happening in your community, let someone know and know that you’ll have the help and the backing of your city government to ensure that we have a safer city," said Fulton.
The first pop-up is this Friday at Shake and Bake.
