Baltimore anti-gun violence activist Dante Barksdale fatally shot in head
A prominent anti-gun violence activist in Baltimore was fatally shot at a public housing project, police and city officials said.
Dante Barksdale, 46, who worked as an outreach coordinator for the city’s Safe Streets campaign, was shot in the head early Sunday at the Douglass Homes in southeastern Baltimore.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
“The investigation is ongoing and we have no further updates to provide at this time,” a police spokeswoman told The Post in a statement early Monday.
Homicide detectives are handling the investigation, police said.
Barksdale, also known as “Tater,” was the “heart and soul” of the city’s anti-gun violence program, where he worked for nine years, Mayor Brandon Scott said.
“His death is a major loss to Safe Streets, the communities they serve, and the entire city of Baltimore,” Scott said in a statement, adding that Barksdale’s impact left an indelible mark on the community. “Dante’s work saved lives. This is a sobering reminder of how dangerous this frontline work is.”
Barksdale had delivered winter coats just weeks earlier to residents at the complex where he was fatally shot, one resident told the Baltimore Sun. The circumstances surrounding his death were not immediately clear, the newspaper reported.
Barksdale, who had served time in prison, was well known throughout the community and had a personal connection to the struggle of ridding the city’s streets of guns. He was the nephew of Nathan “Bodie” Barksdale, an infamous Baltimore drug kingpin who served as inspiration for some of the characters in HBO’s “The Wire,” including Avon Barksdale.
Barksdale’s slaying shocked many community leaders, including former Safe Streets workers.
“His life was dedicated to preventing this type of stuff from happening,” James Timpson, a former program leader who now runs another violence prevention effort, told the Baltimore Sun. “Nobody can believe that this happened.”
A description of a suspect or a possible motive was not available late Sunday, a police spokeswoman told the newspaper.
The city’s police commissioner, meanwhile, lauded Barksdale for his crime-fighting efforts in the streets he served while sending condolences to his family.
“His work in outreach, mediating conflicts and reducing gun violence in our city was invaluable and he embodied a message of redemption and peace to the many young people of our city,” Commissioner Michael Harrison said.
Anyone with information about the shooting should call police at (410) 396-2100.
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