INDIANAPOLIS — As gun violence continues to plague Indianapolis, Indy's Ceasefire Team has a hope for this weekend: no gunfire for 72 hours.
Members of the community stood along some of the city's most violent streets Saturday pleading with people to put down the guns down.
"In this community every time I turn around there is somebody getting killed, somebody getting shot," said Sharon Chambers.
Community members and cease fire organizers are tired of family and friends getting gunned down in the streets.
"We're going to have disagreements, but it does not have to end in violence," said an organizer.
They rallied together in crime hot spots and stood along streets calling for people to talk it out instead of shoot it out.
"Talk it out. That is the challenge we are facing today," said District 13 City-County Councillor Keith Graves.
Chambers lives on the east side. She says not only are shooters taking someone's life, they're also destroying theirs.
"Why do it from the get-go? You gotta think. You gotta use your brain the first thing you do is pull your gun? That doesn't solve anything. It really doesn't," she said.
As of Sunday, there have been 232 homicides in Indianapolis in 2021, and 213 of those are criminal homicides. On October 31, 2020, there were 232 homicides and 173 of those were criminal, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
"It's discouraging. We've gotta get those numbers down, but the impact has got to be helping people realize pulling a trigger to solve the problem is not the solution," said Chief Randal Taylor.
IMPD reported one person was in stable condition after being shot Saturday and a man was killed early Sunday morning.
Chief Taylor says there isn't a certain age group committing these crimes.
"A lot of people think it's 13, 14, 15, 16 but we've had 30, 40 and 50-year-olds that have committed murders and that's a problem," he said.
Mayor Joe Hogsett says American Rescue Act funds will be poured into the community.
"We are going to add 100 new police officers. 45 million dollars over 3 years is going into community organized neighborhood based anti-violence crime reduction groups. We have $30 million that will be allocated for better mental health services, $6 million for hunger relief, $5.5 million for re-entry services. So, it's a multiplicity for different uses and most all of the investments are going to the root causes of the violence which is poverty," he said.
Chambers is hoping that will allow change to finally happen.
"We really need to clean it up. Make it a better place for our children's children to live in," she said.
More cease fire rallies will be held Sunday, October 31st.
