Murders, gangs and guns in Louisville motivate group to try to stop the violence

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Violent crime in Louisville is being fueled by drugs, guns and gangs. The criminals know the streets of Louisville's neighborhoods, but one group hopes to stop the escalating murders in the city.

Dr. Eddie Woods, known as "Doc" to many, is with "No More Red Dots," a group focused on stopping gun violence.

"I've been doing this so long that almost every spot that I drive through, I can pretty much remember somebody being popped in that area," he said.

Woods said he mostly does his rounds in the daytime, while others in his group do rounds at night, since they work during the day. He said the most dangerous street in Louisville is 22nd Street.

"This particular area right here is one of the more active areas for individuals who represent this area over here. This is the Southwick area," he said. "Most of the cats who do this at night are sleeping in the day. They come out at about 6 o'clock."

FBI data shows Louisville homicides steadily climbing in the last 10 years. The city hovered around 50 murders a year in 2011 and is now on track to reach about 200 by the end of 2021, which would mark a 300% increase in the last decade.

West Broadway is a focus for Woods' group. Dots on a map mark each homicide and shooting in the most violent year in Louisville's history.

Wood said hot spots in the city change.

"Rowan was as hot as a firecracker between this block and 26th Street," he said. "We had four shootings, three deaths, six overdoses on that one block.

"The bottom line is we got to police ourselves, take care of ourselves."

Woods said the gangs look for targets.

"Young people do what they call sliding," he said. "Sliding is riding neighborhoods, looking for individuals. They got specific neighborhoods but looking for individuals that they can consider be their opponents, or "opps." The whole process is called going on a drill. When they go on these drills, they are looking for someone to shoot."

There are 19 identified gangs in Louisville, Woods said, a lot of them neighborhood groups that are affiliated with each other.

"We have to count them all," he said. "We can't go by what's the nationally-known groups, Crips, Bloods, like that," Woods said. "We pretty much know them by neighborhoods. Really, that's not as much our focus as just stopping the homicides and the shootings."

He blames the violence on two things: social media and the availability of weapons.

"Somebody gets on social media (and) records talking about one neighborhood," said Rontele Shepard, another member of No More Red Dots. "But you got someone that's around and send it to people they're talking about, and it's going back and forth, instigating."

As the group continues patrols, Woods said it doesn't take much to start the violence.

"22nd Street is very busy right now," he said. "Different folks got issues with each other, and so one of the things we have to contend with is we really don't care a whole lot about the issues. Why don't you fight instead of shoot? That's kind of how we view it. Some of the issues have to do with gang activity. Some of the issues have to do with drug activity, have to do with individuals and personal beefs."

Woods said that's a dangerous combination with so many guns on the streets.

"We're not talking about 22s and things like that. We're talking about real guns. We're talking about big guns," he said. "Folks are able to get guns that would be in the military, guns with a half-mile scope on it. They don't even need to be standing in your face to do something to you."

The No More Red Dots team is coming up with strategies to try and get people to put the guns down. The organization said it's getting about $400,000 to help with the Cure Violence initiative in the Portland neighborhood and address shootings and homicides. 

Woods said the people who live in Portland often prefer to talk to his organization instead of police. 

"What they do is let us know when somebody is doing too much, when an individual needs someone to talk to," he said. "So we set up an opportunity to talk with them."

The Cure Violence strategy places people who have been incarcerated as "interrupters" to do direct outreach with boots on the ground in the city's most dangerous communities. It's had controversial results in the past with partners charged with more crimes. 

The city is putting more money in public safety than ever before. Louisville Metro Council just allocated $15 million to the Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods for crime reduction programs tackling addiction, trauma and violence intervention.

"Normally, we'll find out what the problem is and we'll basically try to come in between it with some kind of truce," Shepard said. "Sit down to resolve it, like a private meeting. It ain't broadcast."

Shepard said people are very open to talking to them.

"Like I said, we come from the streets," he said.

Shepard said he's able to connect with others because he's a victim of gun violence himself. He said he was shot in the back. The former high school football player lived in the Sheppard Square Housing project off South Jackson Street and met Woods when he was around 12 years old. It changed his life.

"I believe it's going to take us and a lot of the parents," Shepard said. "I believe a lot of parents pretty much know what's going on with their kids."

The No More Red Dots team is working to teach kids about opportunities that have nothing to do with gangs or violence.

"What we try to do is get a person who is out there on the streets doing street stuff to be involved in our mentorship program with one of our team members or be in programs that we got that can make some money," Woods said. 

But Shepard said the violence won't stop overnight.

"I know we ain't gonna stop the shooting, but we're going to stop as much of it as we can," he said.

More from Louisville in Crisis:

• Louisville families grapple with epidemic of 'unimaginable and unending' violence

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