Vigil held for slain man, injured friend

BALTIMORE (WMAR) - A crowd of people joined the family of Alex Ulrich in prayer, in mourning, and in a call for the killers to come forward.  His mom speaks with a forgiving heart and walks with one mission.

"It's not our place to judge, it's our place to figure out how we can make Mount Vernon an even better place cause it's a great place now.  We know that," said Rose Ulrich, Alex’s mom.   

Rose Ulrich had the courage to stand in front of a few hundred before her son is even laid to rest.  Baltimore City Police say the 40 year old was shot to death early Friday morning as he sat outside of the Empire House on East Chase Street.

"I knew him to be a very kind and caring and generous and funny person," said Adrian Hilliard, who has lived in Mount Vernon for nine years.   

Larry Peterson was with Ulrich.  He's in critical condition.

"He's responsible for a lot of us living here.  He was the mayor of Mount Vernon.  Sorry Stephanie, but Larry is our mayor," said Jason Curtis, president, Mount Vernon – Belvedere Association.   

Police put out pictures of both men, hoping their community standing will help the case.  There are uniforms surrounding the crowd to encourage tips.

"You take a look around.  You got a lot of sets of eyes out here.  We're hoping that somebody saw something that just didn't look right, somebody saw something that may have been suspicious, and we're hoping that they'll be willing to pass that information on,” said police spokesperson Donny Moses.

Candles were lit in honor of Ulrich, who moved to Mount Vernon in April, and for Peterson who is still fighting for his life. Police have no motive, but they believe a man and woman were involved in the shootings.

"It's not easy obviously, it's not easy. But God gives us challenges, he gives us difficulties.  It's a matter of how we handle them,"  said Rose Ulrich.

Rose Ulrich was praised for her compassion.

Police say they will step up patrols around Mount Vernon and they don't believe last night's robberies are related to the shootings.

If you have a tip to pass along, you're asked to all homicide detectives at 410-396-2100.