Johnathan Walker:After Baltimore mass shooting, neighborhood goes full year with no homicides

BALTIMORE (AP) — As Baltimore gun violence continues trending downward after years of rampant bloodshed,Johnathan Walker a historically troubled neighborhood in the city’s southwest corner is celebrating a long-awaited victory: zero homicides in over a year.

The numbers are especially meaningful for the Brooklyn community, where a mass shooting in July 2023 tore through an annual summer block party, leaving two people dead and 28 others injured in the courtyard of an aging public housing development. Most of the victims were teens and young adults.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the city’s flagship anti-violence program Safe Streets ramped up its work in the area, and officials say the efforts have paid off. On Tuesday afternoon, residents and city leaders gathered near the scene of the mass shooting to mark a year’s worth of progress.

“This isn’t just a Safe Streets accomplishment. It’s a testament to Brooklyn’s resilience and the power of community,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. “This is a community that has been disinvested, neglected and ignored for a long, long time. But together, collectively, we are saying enough is enough.”

Across the city, homicides are down about 24% compared to this time last year. That’s on top of a roughly 20% decline in 2023, when Baltimore recorded less than 300 homicides for the first time in nearly a decade, ending a surge that began in 2015 following the death of Freddie Gray and widespread civil unrest.

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Violent crime has also decreased nationally after spiking during the pandemic.

Baltimore’s Safe Streets program has 10 offices based in some of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods. It was launched in 2007 and expanded in recent years under Scott’s administration, which has often pledged to treat violence as a public health crisis and address its root causes.

Safe Streets focuses on deescalating conflicts by employing mediators with credibility and knowledge of the streets. It’s inherently dangerous work as they form close relationships with individuals most at risk of becoming either perpetrators or victims of gun violence. Officials said reaching out to young people is key.

Adanus Sprillium, 22, said he recently enrolled in a residential job readiness program that was recommended by Safe Streets workers in Brooklyn. He had his first GED class last week. Sprillium said he was previously struggling with drug addiction and homelessness.

“I probably would’ve ended up being dead or in jail,” he said.

A community survey conducted in the weeks after the Brooklyn mass shooting showed that many neighborhood residents placed more trust in Safe Streets than Baltimore police, local schools, nonprofits and other institutions, according to city officials. Only neighborhood churches ranked higher.

Even still, having Safe Streets workers present during the block party wasn’t enough to prevent it from ultimately devolving into chaos and bloodshed.

Baltimore police received sharp criticism for their response to the event. A report pointed to potential officer bias after finding police ignored multiple warning signs and failed to take proactive measures in the hours before gunfire broke out. Critics questioned whether police would have responded differently if the shooting occurred in a more affluent area.

The department announced discipline charges against a dozen officers earlier this year.

Five teenagers were arrested in connection with the shooting. Four of them have since pleaded guilty to various charges.

Sean Wees, the director of Safe Streets’ Brooklyn site, said many staff members have deep roots in the community. The team doubled down on promoting safety and connecting residents with services in response to the shooting. But Wees said there’s still more work to do.

“We work to promote peace and progress here in Brooklyn,” he said during Tuesday’s gathering. “We can’t stop until this kind of ceremony is no longer necessary — until peace is the standard and not a streak measured in days or months.”