In a city plagued by shootings, one activist tried her best to organize a weekend free of killing by launching the social media hashtag Baltimore Ceasefire. It was hoped to prevent anyone being shot and killed from Friday through Sunday this weekend. Saturday saw the first death when a 24-year-old man was shot and killed followed by a 37-year-old losing his life later that evening.

'Nobody Kill Anybody' weekend launched

The “Baltimore Ceasefire” campaign was launched by activist Erricka Bridgeford in an effort to curb all the killing in the city and has gathered the support of thousands of social media users since May this year.

As reported by the New York Daily News, the “Nobody kill anybody” weekend was off to a bad start on Saturday with three shootings and two deaths.

When Friday saw no homicides, hopes were high, but then the first shooting happened Saturday, leading to a 22-year-old being shot in his arm, but surviving the experience. The next shooting was fatal and happened on Saturday shortly after 5 p.m. The 24-year-old unnamed victim was quickly taken to a hospital in the area by his friends but was pronounced dead on arrival at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

The next fatal shooting occurred at around 10 p.m. when a 37-year-old man was shot and killed in Northwest Baltimore.

Baltimore needs to open the rec centers again

Nichole Dawkins 47, resides a block away from where the last shooting occurred on Saturday. She spoke up to say in order to stop the shooting the city needs to open up the recreation centers.

She stressed there is nowhere for the kids to go in the city except out on the streets. Dawkins said more action and less talk is required, as you can’t take your kids to a rec center if it is closed.

Baltimore sees record number of homicides in July

The Baltimore Sun reports that by the end of July, a record number of homicides had occurred in the city, with 204 killed by gunfire.

The “Baltimore Ceasefire” campaign said on its Facebook page that there is currently a war happening in Baltimore, describing the deaths as “genocide” among the city's African-American men, whether by police shootings or by each other. The campaign said the city needs a call to action to save the community for future generations.

Among the city’s officer-involved deaths was the case of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, who died in police custody in April 2015. This led to rioting in the city, followed by an investigation which showed Baltimore’s police to regularly violate people’s civil rights. Charges were brought against six officers who were involved in Gray’s arrest but prosecutors secured no convictions.
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