Southern Pines street shut down for prayer

On Saturday, religious leaders took their message to Gaines Street.

They shut it down to speak against violence in the community.

“It's just a lot of bad things that happen here,” said Antoinette Sloan, a member of the community. “Scary for the kids to be around. You never know what's going to happen day-to-day as far as shooting and all that."

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Residents said small business owners used to thrive on Gaines Street, but it’s not the case so much anymore.

“It's like everybody grew up here together, and now they're killing each other,” Sloan said. “So now you’ve got one side against the other because they didn’t want to tell on this family because they like this family, but this person’s dead and you like this family, too, and I don't get into all that.”

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In the past several years, the neighborhood has been plagued with violence. The community is determined to take it back, residents said.

“We've actually lost a couple of generations,” Arthur Mason, a pastor, said. “The only way we're going get back is that we get out and meet with them and they meet with us.”

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Gentry Winfield, another pastor, said he’s familiar with the street’s violence.

“I'm used to these streets right here,” he said. “I'm used to doing all sorts of things in these streets. I made a promise when I turned my life over to Christ I would go back to the streets and try to get those I left behind.”