Boston police, community leaders urging people to come forward after violent weekend
BOSTON – After a string of shootings in Boston over the weekend, two of them deadly, police are urging residents and witnesses to come forward.
Police says this year 13 people have been killed in the streets of Boston, an increase by eight compared to this time last year.
"We want to transform the way society responds to homicide. It's not a summer issue. We can't wait until summer," Louis D. Brown Peace Institute Founder Clementina Chery said.
Chery, who is also the president of the organization, founded it after her 15-year-old son Louis was killed while caught in a crossfire in Dorchester 30 years ago.
It's a center for teaching, healing and learning for families and communities impacted by trauma, murder, grief and loss. Chery said with each death, families and communities are impacted.
"We want people to see that the number of survivors of homicide victims continues to increase and we need targeted intervention," Chery said.
This weekend they will host their 27th annual Mother's Day Walk for Peace. Thousands are expecting to attend. This year's theme is "Cultivating Cycles of Peace".
"Bringing families together to honor and to remember and to celebrate and really transform that narrative of how we see people of color impacted by gun violence," Chery said.
Louis D. Brown Peace Institute helps with funeral costs, housing and community outreach, along with education for children called Generation Peace.
Nine-year-old Michael Duros is a student at the facility.
"I would like to see more peace and especially in my other school. Because a lot people make fun of people and they bully people a lot," Duros said.
Chery said that in the 30 years since her son was murdered not much has changed. For her, this weekend's deadly shootings are not a surprise because there needs to be a shift in how the community addresses homicides in the city.
"We really haven't invested in the upfront prevention, and the healing," Chery said.
