(BALTIMORE) — A man who worked on the front lines of preventing gun violence in Baltimore, Maryland, was shot and killed on Wednesday night in a quadruple shooting on E. Monument Street, in the McElderry Park neighborhood.

Baltimore native DaShawn McGrier, 29, worked as a violence interrupter for Safe Streets and is the third member of the organization to be shot and killed in the last year.

“[DaShawn] was passionate about his community, and was working hard to make that community safer for his family, friends and neighbors,” said Meg Ward, Vice President of Strategic Growth and Community Partnerships at Living Classrooms — a nonprofit that operates two of the 10 Safe Streets sites in the city, including McElderry Park. “He was a son, he was a father, he was a partner. He was a brother, he was a devoted and present father to his child.”

According to Ward, McGrier was having a conversation with the other two victims while working at his post on Monument Street when the shooting occurred.

“Apparently, a tow truck came around the corner and they just shot up the block,” Ward said.

BPD identified the other victims as 28-year-old Tyrone Allen and 24-year-old Hassan Smith. A spokesperson told ABC News Friday that “no arrests have been made at this time.”

“We are dedicating every available resource to finding and apprehending the cowardly perpetrators of this act,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said in a statement Wednesday.

When asked if this was a targeted shooting, police said the investigation is ongoing.

There have been more than 300 homicides in Baltimore each year for the past five years, with 338 in 2021 and 335 in 2020, BPD data shows.

Community members and Safe Streets workers gathered on E. Monument Street Saturday afternoon to honor McGrier and other victims of gun violence.

“What choices are we going to make? This is our community,” said Safe Streets violence interrupter Alex Long in a passionate speech at the event. “These shootings gotta stop.”

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott also attended the event and said that the city is “determined to honor DaShawn’s legacy in the best way we can — by expanding community violence interventions across the city.”

“[Safe Streets Baltimore] is not just an organization, but a calling. DaShawn believed that we could build a better Baltimore. Let’s show him that we can,” Scott tweeted, along with photos of the event.

Ward said Safe Streets organizes shooting response events to “denormalize” gun violence — especially in neighborhoods where shootings are common — by creating an opportunity for the community to come together to honor the victims and send the message that, “This is not OK.” And on Saturday, they honored one of their own.

Violence interrupters also connect individuals with resources such as job placement opportunities and financial support.

Ward said that McGrier had been working as a violence interrupter for a little over a month, but had been a part of the Safe Streets community for a long time. He was a “hard worker,” she said, who was a welding student at the North American Trade School during the day and worked at the Safe Streets McElderry Park site at night to help mediate conflicts that could lead to shootings.

“The work that is being done to stop this from happening is really, really important. And it makes it that much more important when you lose one of your own,” she said.

McGrier’s killing came as the Safe Streets community continues to mourn the deaths of two beloved longtime members who were killed over the past year and who had dedicated their lives to reducing gun violence.

Dante Barksdale, a Safe Streets outreach coordinator, and Kenyell “Benny” Wilson, a Safe Streets violence interrupter, were shot and killed in separate incidents in January and July. Two days before McGrier was killed, the community gathered to honor Barklesdale on the anniversary of his death.

“We were devastated, it was very traumatizing. It’s very difficult to say their names or to think of them, and to not feel that consistent void in our hearts, because they were definitely individuals who impacted the community in such an incredible way,” Rashad Singletary, the associate director of gun violence prevention at MONSE told ABC News last year. “And for them to lose their lives to the same thing that we tried to save thousands of lives from, it was very, very disheartening and tragic.”

How violence interrupter programs work

Safe Streets was launched in Baltimore in 2007 in the McElderry Park neighborhood. It is one of several violence prevention programs in the country that is based on a model that started in Chicago in the mid 1990s.

Violence interrupters also connect high risk individuals with resources that the organization offers, including job placement and financial support that could help alleviate some of the suffering — conditions that lead some to resort to violence.

What the data shows

Recent studies have shown that Safe Streets programs have been effective at reducing gun violence in various neighborhoods.

A 2012 study published by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that Safe Streets workers were successful at reducing gun violence in three of four neighborhoods where the initial sites were established, Director of the Center for Gun Policy and Research at Johns Hopkins University Daniel Webster previously told ABC News.

Safe Streets workers mediated more than 2,300 conflicts in 2020, according to MONSE, and after gaining more funding from the city, the organization opened its tenth site in 2021.

“Safe Streets workers mediate the very types of conflicts we saw tonight,” Harrison said in a statement Wednesday. “All the Safe Streets workers are to be applauded for their work in reducing gun violence and promoting a message of redemption and peace to the many young people of our city.”

MONSE Director Shantay Jackson said that the mayor’s office will be providing support to the family of the victims and the staff, including grief counseling.

“This is a reminder of the courageous, yet dangerous job our frontline staff does each day when working with those at the highest risk of being a shooter or the victim of a shooting,” she said in a statement.

Ward said that the “tremendous loss” highlights the need for violence-prevention work in Baltimore.

“People are heartbroken,” she said, “and at the same time, [the] feeling or sense is this is the reason to double down.”

ABC News’ Abby Cruz and Kendall Ross contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — New York City dog owners are being warned after several pets may have been sickened by leptospirosis, a disease commonly associated with rats.

A city council member said this week his office had received “reports of multiple dog fatalities” in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg.

“The reports to our office indicate that dogs played at McCarren [Park] Dog Run before becoming sick,” council member Lincoln Restler said in a social media post Wednesday, which advised dog owners about the potentially deadly bacterial disease that is spread through the urine of infected animals.

In an update Friday, Restler said his office had received a report about potential cases of leptospirosis “allegedly causing the death of four dogs” that had been to the park’s dog run.

The city’s health department told ABC News Saturday it has not confirmed reports of canine leptospirosis related to McCarren Park, but it is working with the city’s parks department to inspect rat activity there.

“Dog owners who are concerned should consult their veterinarian about vaccination and seek vet care early if their dog is ill,” the health department said in a statement. “We urge veterinarians who receive positive results of leptospirosis to report it to the Health Department as required by the NYC Health Code.”

The parks department also said an “outbreak” of reported cases has been unconfirmed.

“We like our four-legged friends happy and healthy, and are sad to learn that some pups may have recently been impacted by leptospirosis,” the parks department said in a statement to ABC News. “We are actively engaged with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and exploring options to mitigate any related risks.”

On Friday, workers replaced trash cans with rat-resistant ones in the area and an exterminator conducted an inspection. Starting Monday, the park will also “work to refresh this area” including replacing wood chips.

An exterminator last treated the area for rats three weeks ago, the parks department said.

“We understand the cause for concern and urge dog owners to be vigilant and cautious when walking their pets,” it added.

Restler said the concerns highlight the need to address “the rat infestation and underlying conditions to make sure dogs & our whole community are safe.”

Dakarrie Garcia, a local dog trainer, told ABC New York station WABC he was concerned about conditions at the park.

“It’s disgusting. If you look around the park, there’s rat holes everywhere around the dog park,” Garcia said.

NYC Parks said it received two complaints regarding rodents in McCarren Park in the past year.

The health department said it investigates about 15 cases of canine leptospirosis each year and that “clusters” of the disease are “very rare.”

Symptoms of leptospirosis may include fever, chills, vomiting, muscle aches or diarrhea and usually appear one to two weeks after exposure. In some cases the disease may cause kidney or liver failure.

“Owners should not let their pets drink from puddles or other sources of water that may be contaminated with rat urine,” the health department said.

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