BALTIMORE (WMAR) — Two men were killed and three others were shot in Baltimore over the weekend. The same weekend dedicated to promoting peace.
It was the first virtual Baltimore Ceasefire Weekend. The organization moved events online to continuing celebrating lives and promoting peaceful activities while social distancing.
Still, two men were murdered and three others were shot.
Friday, a 29-year-old was shot and killed on Lakewood Aveue. Sunday afternoon, a man was shot trying to run away from the suspect at a shopping center on Cold Spring Lane. Baltimore Police believe the victim was shot and ran into a store before collapsing.
"Please just send light and love to the families of people who’ve been shot and killed in the last three days," said Baltimore Ceasefire 365 co-founder Erricka Bridgeford.
To honor the man killed on Friday, Bridgeford and a few ceasefire members held a sacred space ritual there. It’s something they always do, but instead of inviting the community, they broadcasted it online.
"Now what that meant was that his cousins, his mother, all were able to watch on Instagram and see us bless the space in honor of Justin," said Bridgeford.
They plan on holding the same ritual at the shopping center on Cold Spring Lane for the second victim on Monday at 5 p.m. It will be broadcast live on their social media.
Over the weekend, they also held other events virtually to spread awareness, including a live DJ and public forums, and they are coming up with other ways to continue recruitment and spread their message while social distancing.
"Because we were dealing with the murder epidemic before COVID-19, we will still be dealing with it afterwards," said Bridgeford.
