Mayor Brandon M. Scott’s Safe Streets Baltimore program suffered a PR hit when one of its workers was arrested in connection with a shooting in Park Heights on Sunday, June 7.
Police arrested Antoine Burton, 51, for allegedly shooting a 40-year-old man on Park Heights Avenue on Sunday evening. He is being charged with attempted murder and multiple handgun violations.
Scott released a statement addressing Burton’s arrest on Monday, just two days after Safe Streets held a kickoff event launching the 6th annual Safe Streets Summer Events in Druid Hill Park.
“I am furious at the news that Antoine Burton, a Safe Streets worker with the Safe Streets Belvedere site, has been arrested following the nonfatal shooting that occurred … yesterday,” Scott said. “Our hearts are with the victim and their family, and we join them in praying for a full recovery.”
Scott decried Burton’s actions as “a disgrace” and said he “violated the trust that is at the very core of what makes violence intervention work overwhelmingly successful.” He insisted no one should use violence to solve conflict, especially those entrusted to promote peace.
Scott also pledged that Burton would face the same process and consequences as anyone else who committed violence in Baltimore, with no special treatment for having been employed by the mayor’s office.
Emphasizing that the shooting was an isolated incident, Scott said Burton’s actions should not be used to undermine the progress Safe Streets has made in preventing violence.
“As this individual answers for his personal actions, we will continue to hold our Safe Streets teams to the highest standards for conduct, and they will continue their lifesaving work to prevent violence and uplift our communities,” Scott said.
Saturday’s Druid Hill Park event connected residents with organizations like the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE), Catholic Charities, and LIfeBridge Health Center for Hope to promote safety during the summer months.
Stephanie Mavronis, director of MONSE, said the event was about neighbors coming together to promote peace and stand against gun violence, which typically increases during the summer.
Scott said he was excited about the kickoff to Safe Street Summer Events because they tie into the work the organization does all year to make Baltimore safer. He expects the events, which are free and open to the public, to “build on Baltimore’s progress reducing homicide and nonfatal shootings to historic lows.”
Last week, Scott and the University of Pennsylvania’s Crime and Justice Policy Lab released a report that showed how Baltimore’s Group Violence Reduction Strategy helped bring the city’s homicide rate down to historic lows, with a 60% reduction from 2022 to 2025. The results were achieved without an increase in arrests and stand out even among other cities where crime has been declining, the report shows. Baltimore’s homicide rate was around 25% below other cities with similar trends.
Safe Streets and Safe Streets Summer Events are some of the community intervention tools Scott’s administration has put in place to effect that change. In 2025, Safe Streets held around 60 events over the summer, from community block parties to school supply giveaways. A full list of this year’s events is on MONSE’s website.
