A week after a gunman approached a group of young women in a parked car and fatally shot three of them, still stunned community members have planned a peace rally today in Dorchester.
More than a 100 people said they would attend the “Shake the City” rally this afternoon at Franklin Field at 2 p.m., according to the event’s Facebook page.
Organizers said they are trying to unite the community in the face of tragedy.
“We want to let the perpetrator(s) know that we are mad, and actively seeking justice. Violence is becoming a terrorism in our community and we cannot let violence rob us of our sense of security any longer,” organizers said in an invitation letter.
Kristen Lartey, Sharrice Perkins and Genevieve Philip, all 22, were sitting in a car on Harlem Street on the Dorchester-Mattapan border with a fourth women when a gunman approached them and opened fire about 9:30 p.m. Aug 12. The women were killed and the fourth woman was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.
Last week, police Commissioner Ed Davis said the shooting was likely gang related. No arrests have been made as of Sunday morning.
Clergy members were also asked to announce this morning during their worship services a reward for information leading to an arrest and prosecution of person responsible for the murders last week.
A $2,000 reward is being offered, according to the Boston TenPoint Coalition.
“It is unusual for an organization to make this kind of financial offer, but we live in a culture of violence, and this must change,” said the Rev. Jeffrey Brown, the executive director of the coalition, in a statement. “It is time for the community in general, and the community of faith in particular, to take measures that will end the siege of violence on our young people.”
In addition to the murder of the three women, a man was killed early Sunday morning in Roslindale in another group shooting.
On Wednesday, a man was stabbed to death in Roxbury after he and another man had become involved in a fight as they stepped off of an MBTA bus.
