Residents said the economy is partly to blame for the violence.
Members of the Shiloh F.W.U. Baptist Church Inc. founded in 1967 from left to right are Lucille Byrd, Mary C. Crapps and Assistant Pastor Sandra AlexandraSPRINGFIELD – The shootings that took one life and left four others wounded, including two police officers, just a few doors down from her church Saturday prompted Sandra L. Alexander to call for all people to join together in a day of prayer.
Alexander, assistant pastor of Shiloh Free Will of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost Church on Burr Street, joined with members of her congregation for services Sunday afternoon, the day after a violent rampage that left one man dead, two police officers and a third man injured, and the man accused of doing the shooting in the hospital in serious condition.
“If the churches could all get together and have a day of prayer I believe we can accomplish something,” Alexander said.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, who was at the scene on Saturday, said he needs the community to come together to stop the violence.
“Know your kids, know who their friends are, know where they are hanging out at night,” Sarno said. “This type of incident should not be tolerated in any neighborhood in the city.”
Sarno said Springfield police and city officials will do their part to handle this incident, but they need the community to stand up and support them.
“This type of life cannot be glamorized, it should be villainized. This whole idea of not snitching and protecting people who are killing residents in broad daylight is ridiculous. I hope people realize that if they don’t speak up next time it could be their friend or their bother who gets killed,” he said.
Many of the about 75 members of the Shiloh Free Will church live or grew up in the neighborhoods where Saturday’s shootings took place. Some said they worry, especially about the young people who live in the area.
Lucille Byrd, who said she lives within walking distance of the church, said she hears children outside as late as 1 a.m. when they should be at home with their families.
“My heart is hurting,” she said about the shootings.
The economy is one factor in the community’s distress, Byrd said.
Adults are having a difficult time finding jobs, and teenagers cannot find summer and after-school jobs and instead are getting in trouble, she said.
Mary C. Crapps, whose mother and aunt helped build the church more than 40 years ago, said the poor economy means that in many households both parents must work, but still cannot afford to hire someone to watch their children, who come home to empty houses.
“Because of the economy they cut back on the after-school programs and kids have nowhere to go,” she said.
Lucey J. Newsome was helping a sister move out of her home in the neighborhood Saturday when the shooting started.
“My brother’s (granddaughter) was in the car when the shooting happened. The baby is OK,” Newsome said.
Long-time city resident and Ward 4 City Councilor E. Henry Twiggs said one of the reasons people might have harbored the accused shooter, Tamik Kirkland, is that there is not enough communication between the police department and the community. He said more needs to be done to establish trust between the police department and the neighborhood residents.
“There is a level of distrust. No one wants to come forward,” he said.
Twiggs said another problem is the accessibility to guns.
“These kids are picking up weapons that can take somebody’s life and they seem to have no understanding of that when they pull the trigger,” he said.
Police said the crime spree started around 12:30 p.m. Saturday when Kirkland, 25, entered Bill Brown’s House of Beauty on 945 State St. and shot two men, killing Sheldon Innocent, 24, of Wilbraham.
Kirkland then ran about a block to take refugee in a home of 49 Cambridge St., according to police.
Officers, who saw him trying to escape by hiding in the trunk of a car, stopped the driver as she backed out the driveway. When they opened the truck, Kirkland opened fire on the officers,according to police.
Two officers were shot in the exchange but escaped with minor injuries because they were wearing bulletproof vests. They returned fire hitting Kirkland multiple times. A 6-month-old child in the car, which police did not see until the shooting was over, was not injured.
Staff writer Elizabeth Roman contributed to this story