Hundreds marched through the streets of Halifax Sunday to call for peace after a spate of violent deaths in Nova Scotia’s capital.

Three men under the age of 30 were killed in separate shootings across Halifax in the past week.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a week like this,” march organizer Quentrel Provo, whose distant cousin was one of the victims, told CTV Halifax. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

The shooting spree began last Sunday when Tyler Richards, a 29-year-old former basketball player with the Halifax Rainmen, was found dead in a Halifax home. On Tuesday, 23-year-old Naricho Clayton of Dartmouth was shot dead on Gottingen Street.

The most recent victim was 20-year-old Daverico Downey, who was found dead Saturday in North Preston, a community in eastern Halifax.

The march began near a memorial for Richards and passed by the scene of Clayton’s death. The crowd, which included Halifax Mayor Michael Savage and the city’s police chief, temporarily stopped traffic as participants carried signs reading “Put the guns down!” and “Let the love in.”

“We need the whole community to stand up. We need everybody involved,” said Aric Salz, who helped organize the event.

Halifax police chief Jean-Michel Blais said it’s time to confront those engaged in gun violence.

“This is a matter of us getting together as a community to be able to talk about this and to be able to start putting pressure on those individuals – those young males, for all intents and purposes that’s who they are, black and white – who are playing around with guns,” Blais said.

The string of violent deaths has Halifax residents concerned about safety, a police spokesperson said.

“I think people are on edge and on high alert in relation to things that are happening in the community, and I think it’s very understandable,” Halifax Regional Police spokesman Sgt. J.D. McKinnon said.

CeaseFire Halifax, a non-profit that aims to end violence in Nova Scotia’s black community, has urged anyone with a gun to set it aside and consider the consequences of their actions.

With a report from CTV Atlantic