DETROIT (WXYZ) — According to the Detroit Police Department, 100 criminal homicides have taken place since May 3, totaling 182 so far this year. That is still fewer than the 193 criminal homicides this same time last year.
On Saturday, Detroit had two mass shootings, marking the second weekend in a row with a mass shooting in the city.
This comes after the City was experiencing a decrease in violent crime, including fatal and non-fatal shootings. The increased summer violence is now threatening to turn that trend around as community activists work to keep the city on track.
Community activist Maurice Hardwick, known as "Pastor Mo," spoke to 7 Action News back in May after the city reported a 20% reduction in criminal homicides year to date.
"It feels better, it feels different,” Pastor Mo said back in May. “Detroit feels different, and a lot of people are looking in our backyard.”
However, a violent three months since then has begun to reverse that positive trend.
“Just rash, mad violence," Pastor Mo said this weekend. "People are just mad over anything.”
Over the past two weekends, three mass shootings resulted in 20 people being shot. Five of them are now dead and at least three more victims are still in critical condition. Police say all three were isolated incidents and not random.
“It's going to take everybody to text the loved ones they know who are struggling in this area to stay safe,” Pastor Mo said. “We got to put it in our consciousness because in the urban community, in Detroit, it’s getting violent.”
According to data from DPD, criminal homicides are now down 6% YTD, compared to 20% in May. Non-fatal shootings, which were down 26% back in May, are now down 13% year to date.
“We can do better," City Council President Mary Sheffield said. "This is not a reflection of the spirit of Detroit, this is not a reflection of who we are.”
Sheffield says this year, council launched a gun violence task force to look at the next steps in addressing the problem, whether that's finding ways to assist the police department or addressing the root causes of crime.
"We can’t police our way out of gun violence," Sheffield said. "We need wrap around surfaces, we need support to our inner city communities to address the underlying causes.”
Pastor Mo is advocating for shot spotter technology and more cameras, but says it’s up to the people to make the change.
“The crime is going up, so must the strategy, so must the technology,” Pastor Mo said. "We going to get to the bottom of this and let's all pitch in because this could easily be your family.”
“I really believe it's going to take all of us to be apart of reducing the gun violence in our city," Sheffield said. "We can not normalize it.”
