Durham Reporter

After previously declining to speak to reporters about crime in Durham, Mayor Elaine O'Neal (D-Durham) decided it was time to talk about it following a violent weekend in the Bull City.

O'Neal spoke to ABC 11 Monday after three people were killed and six others injured in ten different shootings over the previous four days.

"I am not God -- I can't stop that," she told ABC 11. "But what I can do as a mayor is do what I am doing and that is do things differently because of my background. And also to make sure that we take a look at systemic causes in a different way, and we hope to be able to provide and help to provide a quality of life for folk so they can make some different decisions."

O'Neal added it's unsettling when a murder happens in the city, let alone three and that her "heart is heavy," ABC 11 reported.

According to ABC 11, Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead was seeking information and offering a $5,000 reward for it after two of his deputies were shot at while conducting an investigation in an unmarked car Saturday.

Although O'Neal said there wasn't a set plan to curb violence in the city she told ABC 11 "it takes a small army to go into different neighborhoods and work with our kids, our young folk. You can't do that as the mayor."