BALTIMORE — Ministers, community groups, and funeral hearses traveled east to west through Baltimore on Friday just after 5:30 pm, a group's ninth annual push for an end to the city's violence.
The hearses and limousines, escorted by police on North Avenue, were unmissable.
"It sends a symbol: stop. Because this is it. Do you want to be in one of these or do you want to continue with life?" Corey Larkins, organizer of the procession, told WMAR.
The vehicles stopped at ten locations on the east-to-west road, praying at each stop.
"It's sad, to be honest," said Kevin Nock, Jr., a minister who led a prayer at the procession's beginning. "It's truly sad to know that people are making these decisions or have this type of hate in their heart, to say that 'I'm willing to kill somebody. To take somebody's life away, to rob a family of a family member."
Big picture: homicides and shootings in Baltimore are down. In 2023, the first time in 8 years, Baltimore saw fewer than 300 homicides.
"Hopefully, we can finish out this year well," Richard Worley, the city's police commissioner, told the prayer circle. "Next year hopefully we can finish, and drive it down even less."
Larkins said progress is good, but driving violence down to zero is better.
Less than two weeks ago, eight people were shot, one to death in East Baltimore. When Larkins found out, he told WMAR it nearly drove him to tears, and that it underscored the need for violence prevention work.
"I almost cried," Larkins recalled when he found out about the mass shooting. "And I wanted to figure out something else I could do to curb the violence. This is not it. There's more to come."
"We're tired of seeing people crying over their loved ones. It's got to stop," Larkins said.
