Western District patrols increase

Ramp-up comes after Baltimore weekend with 10 people shot

The Baltimore Police Department has shifted more than a dozen officers to the Western District to address a spike in violence there over the past month.

There have been 33 homicides in Baltimore over the past 30 days, 12 of them in the Western District — including three since Friday.

“We have additional resources to prevent further violence,” said police spokesman Matt Jablow.

Two additional sergeants and 16 officers have been reassigned to the Western indefinitely to address the recent increase in violence there, he said. Some days, there will be an additional 30 officers, he said.

Jablow said investigators do not know what is driving the increase in violence there but that the department is asking for t he public’s help to help police s olve crimes.

Across the city, 10 people were shot — three fatally — from Friday to

Monday morning in the city.

On Sunday al one, t hree people were i njured, and one was killed in shootings.

Just after 7 p. m. Sunday, officers responded to a shooting in the 1800 block of W. Lafayette St. in the Franklin Square neighborhood, where they found a 24-year-old man with gunshot wounds to his body, police said.

The man was transported to an area hospital where he later died, police said.

Kaelyn Brown, 22, who lives on N. Monroe St. not far from the W. Lafayette shooting location, has lived in the neighborhood since 2001. She said the violence has overwhelmed the city.

“The city is burning. Something needs to change. A lot of kids are dying out there,” she said.

Brown said there’s a disconnect between the department and the neighborhood. She said youth from her neighborhood have been missing for years and she feels police “need to worry about what’s going on in the community” more so than traffic stops. She said she also knows victims in the recent shootings but added, “It doesn’t matter if you know the victims, we’re all affected at the end of the day.”

Earlier Sunday, at 12:49 a.m. police in the Northern District responded to an area hospital where a 34-year-old man walked in with a gunshot wound to his foot. The man is in stable condition.

At about 8:20 p.m. Sunday, officers were called to the 4900 block of Greencrest Road in the Frankfort neighborhood. Police found a 28-yearold man with three gunshot wounds to his leg and one to his foot.

The man was transported to an area hospital, where police said he is listed in stable condition.

At 5 a.m. Monday, officers in the Southern District responded to another walk-in shooting victim. Police found another 34-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the leg. The man told officers he was shot in the 3400 Block of Ridgely St. in the neighborhood of Carroll- Camden Industrial Area at 9 p.m. Sunday. When officers returned to the area, they found a crime scene.

Police ask anyone with information on the fatal shootings to call homicide detectives at 410-396-2100. Those with information in nonfatal shootings can call citywide shooting detectives at 410-396-2221.

Those who wish to remain anonymous can call the Metro Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-866-7-LOCK-UP or submit an anonymous tip to 443-9024824.

“The city is burning. Something needs to change. A lot of kids are dying out there.”