“There’s nothing here to motivate the kids:” Cambridge resident reacts to recent shootings in the area

CAMBRIDGE, Md.- Three shootings in Cambridge a few weeks apart, just blocks from one another.

“There’s nothing here to motivate the kids to do nothing, so you’re going to have crime and stuff,” Tevin Ennels, a Cambridge resident, said.

Near the end of March, two 16-year-olds got into a fight on Clinton Street. A gun went off hitting a 7-year-old in the head. Fast forward to last Wednesday, officers responded to Washington Street where a man was found with a gunshot wound to his leg; and most recently, Sunday morning, another violent scene off Fairmount Avenue.

“The Cambridge Police Department received the initial phone call for the deceased 20-year-old victim who was found in this residential area who had suffered an apparent gunshot wound, so at this point our homicide unit is leading the investigation,” Elena Russo, Spokesperson for MSP, said.

With innocent lives being taken and crime filling the streets of Cambridge, those we spoke with are urging city leaders to step up and help the next generation; to create a future that isn’t built around violence.

“I know it’s sad cause these young brothers don’t have nothing to do out here,” Dominic Savage, who visits Cambridge, said.

“Open up a recreational center for them, play basketball, you know there’s nothing here for them to do, create some more jobs, do things in the community that will keep the kids of the streets,” Ennels said.

Savage said that’s not the only issue that needs to be addressed. For those involved with crime, he said there’s no guidance after life behind bars. So, the cycle of repeat offenders continues.

“They don’t have that, we are just getting dumped back into society with nothing to a bunch of kids that’s what happens,” Savage said. “The age you went in there is most likely the age that’s in your mind when you come back out as a kid, so a lot of people don’t grow from that.”

While change isn’t expected over night, a Cambridge resident said if this crime problem doesn’t get solved it’ll only get worse.

“If you don’t put back into the community, you won’t have nothing for the community, so it’s going to create this type of stuff,” Ennels said.