Families speak out over Wilmington deadly violence

WILMINGTON (WPVI) -- Another night in Wilmington and yet another vigil mourning the loss of a loved one or friend.

"Teenagers killing teenagers for no reason at all. They come up with excuses like territorial, 'this is my area,' revenge killing, I mean this is terrible," Charles Brittingham, President of the Wilmington NAACP, said.

With the dubious distinction of being named the most dangerous small city in the country, the streets of Wilmington are getting bloodier.

Two were killed and six others wounded in the span of four days since Friday; six of those occurred in the 200 block of North Broom alone.

"I think this is crazy, I think we're at war and since we're at war, the mayor and the governor ought to respond like it's war," victim's grandfather Bilal Hawkins said.

One mother who lost three sons to violence lashed out at the mayor at Tuesday's vigil.

"You want us to vote for you, march with you, what the hell you marching for, you ain't changing nothing. I'm sick of burying my babies, I'm sick of burying my babies," the mother said.

Mayor Dennis Williams did come out publicly Monday to announce "Operation Disrupt" a new program to combat the crime wave.

"I think it's time now that we take a serious look at what's going on. We've been working hard to combat this violence in numerous ways. But now, we're going to put more officers on the streets," Mayor Williams said.

The city says it will now reassign 22 officers, 5 sergeants and a lieutenant to hot spot areas in Wilmington.

"We will conduct pedestrian stops; we'll have nighttime curfews in effect on these areas for the juveniles that are hanging out," Wilmington Police Chief Bobby Cummings said.

The mayor of Wilmington has announced a reward program for information leading to arrests and convictions in homicide cases.

The city will now begin offering $10,000 rewards hoping to entice witnesses to come forward.