BALTIMORE — Gary Crum spent his Sunday doing what has become a tradition, playing basketball with his friends on a court off North Spring Street in the Oliver community.
One of those friends — Anthony Martin — was killed in a shooting that left seven other people injured in East Baltimore.
“We were just all out here having fun on Sunday,” Crum said. “Unfortunately, I had to leave so I didn’t have a chance to make it back here in time. He was just a good person, man. He didn’t deserve to die. I just feel so bad because it shouldn’t have happened.”
Remembering Anthony
Anthony Martin was a father and was just 36 years old when he was killed.
We’ve got to find out a way to love one another, to figure out our disputes without violence,” Crum said. “We’ve got to make sure this doesn’t happen anywhere else.”
Neighbors had long raised concerns about a motorcycle club in the area. The club was holding a gathering when the violence erupted.
“This was avoidable,” Crum said to WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. “They had no business doing parties because the community has already been complaining about this stuff for years and years and years.”
“Cleansing” the scene
Crum was in the community Tuesday as Erricka Bridgeford, an anti-violence activist and founding member of the Baltimore Peace Movement, cleansed the area with sage.
Bridgeford even kissed the ground where Martin was killed.
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