Dozens of Milwaukee residents and community organizers took to the streets of downtown on Saturday, marching from the Deer District to Aurora Sinai Medical Center with a blunt message: “Don’t Shoot it Out, Talk it Out.” The peace walk was part memorial, part wake-up call, as the city grapples with a string of shootings that started with minor disputes and ended with fatal gunfire, as reported by WISN.
Organizers said the walk was intentionally routed from the bustling entertainment hub to the hospital to draw a straight line between everyday conflicts and their sometimes tragic outcomes. “This walk aims to unite the city in the belief that communication, not gun violence, is the solution to conflict,” organizer Tracey Dent said in a release, according to WISN. Marchers carried candles, photos of loved ones and signs urging people to settle small disputes without pulling a trigger.
One of the cases weighing heavily on the crowd was the Feb. 28 shooting near Vel R. Phillips Avenue that killed 47-year-old Sharita Barber. Family members said the incident started as a minor fender bender after a concert at the newly opened Landmark Credit Union Live venue. Video and witness accounts show Barber was shot during an exchange following the parking-lane collision, and police announced multiple arrests in the days that followed, according to FOX6…