BALTIMORE — After a violent weekend across Baltimore, the impacts of rampant gun violence were written across the faces of city residents: from grieving family members to concerned neighbors, all frustrated and overwhelmed by the growing death toll.
At least five people were killed and nine others injured in weekend shootings, according to Baltimore Police. The instances of violence spanned the city, from Carrollton Ridge and Charles Village to Ednor Gardens-Lakeside near Lake Montebello.
“My boys know the difference between gunshots and fireworks,” said Crystal Hamrick, 27, who lives in Carrollton Ridge. She was referring to her nephew and two sons, ages 11 and under. “They shouldn’t have to know the difference.”
Hamrick was spending time outside with her children Sunday afternoon, the boys bouncing on a trampoline and playing with their new puppy. The evening before, a gunshot victim had collapsed and taken his last breaths in the 1900 block of Ramsay Street, not far from where the children were playing.
His death marked the second recent homicide on their block, adding to an ongoing spate of violence plaguing the struggling Southwest Baltimore neighborhood. Carrollton Ridge has recorded at least 10 shootings within the past two months alone, including eight homicides. Some residents have compared it to a war zone.
“Why so many shootings? It’s like they’re trying to send a message,” Hamrick said, her voice rising in frustration. “Eight or nine shots in broad daylight yesterday.”
Police have not said whether they believe any of the recent shootings are related. The vast majority remain unsolved.
Hamrick said she views the horrific violence as yet another sign that city officials are neglecting her neighborhood. She said getting trash picked up has become a frequent battle. Vacant lots are left overgrown and littered with garbage. After-school programs for children are essentially nonexistent, and “everything has just gone downhill,” she said.
“They would never let this happen downtown or in Canton,” she added. “But I’m from this area. I want to stay and fix it up, make it nice again.”
An aesthetician, she hopes to open her own business in Carrollton Ridge. She keeps the vacant lot adjacent to her house neatly mowed. She tries to shield her children from witnessing the devastating impacts of addiction and gun violence — images that have largely come to define their surroundings thanks to burgeoning open-air drug markets, Hamrick said.
The latest shooting in Carrollton Ridge unfolded around 6 p.m. Saturday on Ramsay Street. Another man was killed Wednesday morning a few blocks away on Ashton Street. Police have not yet identified the victims in either case.
On June 7, Donald Demetrius White, 32, was killed in the 1900 block of Ramsay Street. A memorial in his honor still marks the scene where he died — a clump of half-deflated golden balloons tethered to a street sign, along with one small remnant of yellow crime tape, and several melted candles scattered along the curb. Recent attempts to reach his family were unsuccessful.
Late Sunday afternoon, Hamrick was relieved to learn that a Baltimore police officer was parked just around the corner in his marked squad car, monitoring activity outside Busy Bee’s Convenience Mart, which sits at the intersection of Ramsay and South Monroe streets. But she said she would prefer a larger police presence and more surveillance cameras in light of the recent violence.
Officers were in the area Saturday evening when gunfire broke out. Officials said Southern District officers were patrolling in the 1900 block of Wilkens Avenue — about a block away from the shooting scene. They heard several shots, canvassed the area and found an unidentified male victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, officials said. He later died at the hospital.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison has recently questioned the extent to which a larger police presence helps deter violent crime. The discussion came following a shooting in the Inner Harbor over Memorial Day weekend when a teenager allegedly pulled a gun and fired into a crowd despite about 20 police officers being stationed nearby.
During a Police Department budget hearing earlier this month, Harrison said robust deployment strategies do have some effect, but he emphasized the myriad other factors that contribute to rising gun violence.
“This is about them doing this right in front of the police,” he said at the Inner Harbor shooting scene. “So it’s a bigger conversation than deployment.”
Harrison also spoke about the importance of getting officers out of their vehicles and interacting with residents more often. At one point, the officer on Ramsay Street exited his car and exchanged greetings with passersby.
Also on Ramsay Street late Sunday afternoon, Lloyd Marshall was using a broom and shovel to remove trash from the curbs and storm drains. His work took him past two pieces of graffiti — messages apparently scrawled in response to the recent shootings: “Stop killing us,” was spray-painted next to an outline of a butterfly. The other said “NO SHOOT ZONE #168.”
Marshall, 65, owns several properties in the area. He said residents have been communicating with police about the recent shootings, which he believes are largely the result of “drug dealers fighting for territory.”
He also bemoaned the state of the Baltimore criminal justice system, saying judges are being too lenient when sentencing gun offenders, creating a sense among shooters that there are no real consequences.
About a mile north on West Lafayette Street, another spray-painted message marked “NO SHOOT ZONE #1″ near the spot where four people were injured in gunfire around 10:30 p.m. Friday: two women and two men. One of the female victims walked into a hospital about 20 minutes later, saying she had been shot while driving.
All the victims were expected to survive their injuries, according to police.
Several hours after that shooting, a man was found dead around 7 a.m. Saturday in the 2700 block of Maryland Avenue in Charles Village. The street was quiet Sunday afternoon, lined with large trees, well-kept rowhouses and neatly tended gardens. Police have not identified the victim in that case.
Around 7:35 p.m. Saturday, homicide detectives were again dispatched, this time to the 2400 block of Talbot Road near Leakin Park in Northwest Baltimore. The block is generally quiet, with several sprawling single-family homes on large lots.
Peter Allen, who lives in the area, said he was sitting on the front porch with his dog Huckleberry, talking on the phone and enjoying the evening, when he heard what he thought were firecrackers.
The “bangs” kept coming, loud enough that he stepped back into the doorway. Then he saw a car come fishtailing down the street in reverse, apparently trying to flee the area. He looked closer and saw a woman lying in the street, Allen said.
After calling 911, Allen said, he and his son went to render aid to the woman, along with another neighbor who rushed to help. They found her pulse was already gone, he said. She had collapsed on her back, blood gushing from her head, seeping into her long braids and pooling on the pavement.
Police said she was pronounced dead on the scene. Her name has not been released.
Reports of the next deadly shooting came around 4 a.m. Sunday, when officers responded to reports of gunfire in the 1300 block of Lakeside Avenue near Lake Montebello in Northeast Baltimore. Police found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and medics pronounced him dead.
Family members of the victim had gathered Sunday afternoon outside a house on Lakeside Avenue, their movements listless and faces somber. They declined to speak with a reporter, saying the news was too fresh, the loss too great.
