KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A local bishop ends his week-long fast after staying on top of a roof of a building on the southeast corner of Prospect Avenue and Linwood Boulevard.
Bishop Tony Caldwell of the Eternal Life Church and the Justice Center said the goal was to hope for at least three days without a shooting.
Caldwell wanted community leaders to come together to find a solution to the violent crime in the city.
"Extreme times call for extreme measures," said Caldwell.
There also was extreme weather, from sizzling temperatures to storms.
"The first night was the worst, it was a storm up here, and the tent got to blowing around and I had to hold the tent down and get wet at the same time during the thunderstorm," said Caldwell.
Caldwell told 41 Action News he didn't eat or drink anything while on the roof.
He said fasting is a way to God in hopes of calming down the city's violent crime.
The goal was for the city to go three days without a shooting, but that didn't happen.
But Caldwell claims this week was a success as he witnessed their team stop a shooting.
"Guy pulled out a gun, getting ready to shoot somebody and one of our team members went across the street and stopped him,'' Caldwell said.
At 4pm Sunday evening, the fasting was over as the Kansas City Missouri Fire Department brought him down.
This group is asking for unity and peace in the community hoping people find a better way instead of killing on another.
"I just feel like we need some guidance and I think what the Bishop was trying to do is bring the community together so that we can work together," said Gloria Smith, who knows Caldwell.
"I think in the past, the one element that we have missed is that we did not communicate and that has been killing our community," said Murad Baheyadeen who watched Caldwell come off the roof.
On the side of the building there are two large poster boards where Caldwell said over a thousand people signed their name to stop the violence.
This was Caldwell's second fast and said he will do another one if the extreme crime doesn't stop.
