Police Continue Search For Witnesses In Killing Of 'Reverend Jim'
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Police continue to search for witnesses in the murder of 43-year-old Jim Forrester, known as Reverend Jim, who was shot to death outside the Baltimore Tattoo Museum Monday evening.
Forrester was a musician and body piercing artist who stepped outside to speak to his wife on the phone. She heard the moment he was shot.
"She heard him say, 'Get away from me. Get away from me' a couple of times and heard some noise and commotion, the phone drop and then no more communication with him," museum owner Chris Keaton told WJZ.
"She called inside to have us check on him and somebody discovered him on the ground out there."
Police say Forrester was killed with a single gunshot just after 7 p.m. and they are still looking for witnesses. Authorities told WJZ Wednesday they had no new updates on the investigation and declined to say if they recovered any surveillance video of the killing.
Mayor Catherine Pugh spoke about the murder from City Hall Wednesday. It was Baltimore's 334th killing this year.
"My reaction is the same as it has been for every murder in this city....too many illegal guns on the streets of this city," Pugh said. "We have got to get violence under control."
Pugh spoke about several efforts to curb the bloodshed, and when asked about talk that young people may have been involved in Forrester's shooting, talked about securing private funding for an anti-youth violence initiative called Roca and her support of the Safe Streets program.
"This is a 24/7 non-stop effort to make the city safer and safest, but again it requires not just the police department. It requires neighborhoods and communities."
She also said she would be "meeting with judges soon to talk about their engagement in making Baltimore a safer city."
Outside the Tattoo Museum on Eastern Avenue, there is a small memorial to Forrester. Keaton remembers one of the last times he saw his friend.
"He'd just played a show at our Christmas party Sunday night and was just beaming," he said.
Loved ones are planning a memorial concert.
Police ask anyone with tips to call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-LOCKUP or text tips to (443) 902-4824.
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