LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WAVE) – After 112 murders in less than seven months, a prominent civil rights activist appealed to unity to stop the runaway gun violence in Louisville.
“I want us to stop pointing fingers,” said Reverend Charles Elliott Jr., pastor of King Solomon Missionary Baptist Church. “Let’s unite together. We have to do it, all of you. “
The remarks followed a rally in the Algonquin neighborhood that included prayers for peace and a challenge to the neighborhoods hardest hit by the violence in the city.
“Telling people we need to get together,” Elliott said. “We can’t rely on the police to do it; that doesn’t work with the police. It will be done when we all come together. “
Police across the country have messed up the way they deal with problems in needy communities, said Erika Shields, chief of police for Louisville Metro.
“It is imperative that the community show us a certain level of trust if we are to get a grip on violent crime,” said Shields. “We have to be there for them. As I said, it is not enough that we just show up in a murder case. “
Shields and officers walked 2nd after the murder of two teenage girls in two separate shootings on the same street last week. It’s a now well-known topic in the Department’s new approach to communities hardest hit by violence.
“This is our town,” said Major Steve Healey, “and we all live here. So we all come together and fix it. We do it together. “
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