Community activists plan action after another deadly shooting in Minneapolis
Activists marched on Saturday to take a stand against continuing violence in Minneapolis. (FOX 9)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - After another violent night in Minneapolis, where a shooting left two people dead and eight others injured, community activists and city leaders are pushing for an end to the violence.
"Stop shooting, put the guns down, it has to stop," said Tascha Zapata. "The violence has to stop."
Saturday, a march planned after the shooting of three children in the city took on an added meaning after the early Saturday morning shooting downtown.
"You should be safe where you are, you should be safe to stand in line, you should be safe jumping on the trampoline, a child should be safe to drive in the car," said Zapata.
"I don’t want to ever have to go to North Memorial Hospital and kneel by the bed of a nine-year-old and say a prayer for her again because someone shot her in the head," said Chief Medaria Arradondo.
Adding to the horror, the crowd woke up to the news of yet another deadly night that left two people dead and eight others injured.
"I cried when I saw that, two guys got into a fight in a line at the bar, both of them pulled a gun out and started shooting and disregard for everybody around them, that’s horrifying," said Zapata.
Twelve hours later, community leaders met at Shiloh Temple to discuss a solution. One solution is a plan by Rev. Jerry McAfee to put patrols of volunteers in hotspots frequently visited by gangs. Rev. McAfee is planning a 21-day effort to slow the violence in the city.
"21 days of peace, we want to saturate all of those neighborhoods," he said.
"We’ve got community patrols that are going to be out," added Mayor Jacob Frey.
Even as they mourn, a community is coming together.
"I’m going to take a shift myself down on one of these corners," vowed Mayor Frey.
As they continue to work to bring order to the area, more state patrol and BCA agents are coming into town as soon as this evening for added patrols.