Police: 1 killed in quadruple West Baltimore shooting

A man was killed in a quadruple shooting in West Baltimore late Wednesday, and another was killed in a separate shooting in the city Thursday, police said.

A24-year-old man was pronounced dead in the quadruple shooting around 10:15 p.m. in the1700 block of West North Avenue that also injured a 15-year-old boy, a 39-year-old woman and another 24-year-old man, according to Baltimore police spokesman detective Jeremy Silbert.

The homicide victim was declared dead at the scene; the other victims’ injuries were not expected to be life-threatening, police said. The woman was shot in the leg, the other 24-year-old was shot in the lower back, and the 15-year-old, who turned up at a hospital shortly afterward, was shot in the stomach, Silbert said.

None of the victims were identified, and the motive for the shooting remains under investigation.

A giant wad of balled-up crime scene tape remained on the sidewalk Thursday as a police patrol car idled on the block.

Down the street, Carlos Porcher, who owns North & Carey Convenience Store, shook his head in disgust at the violence as $1.25 hot dogs and $2.50 hamburgers sizzled on the charcoal grill outside his store.

More investment is needed in the city’s underserved neighborhoods, where drugs are far more rampant than legitimate job opportunities by a wide margin, and violence inevitably follows, Porcher said.

One of the first shootings after the riot following the 2015 death of Freddie Gray from injuries suffered in police custody happened just outside his store.

“If there wasn’t no drugs,” he said, “there wouldn’t be no shootings.”

He described the situation of many West Baltimore residents as that of “crabs in a barrel.” “Nobody’s helping nobody,” he said. “Drugs run everything.”

A 52-year-old woman who works nearby but declined to give her name out of fear for her safety gazed out at the construction work happening on North Avenue while she took a drag on a cigarette. “This, right here, is what needs fixing,” she said, gesturing around at the vacant homes and businesses along the blighted block. “There’s got to be something they can do.”

Police were called to a hospital more than an hour later, about 11:30 p.m., to interview a 28-year-old man who had been shot in the 5700 block of Chinquapin Parkway in the Glen Oaks neighborhood of North Baltimore, police said.

Another man was killed in one of a pair of separate shootings in East Baltimore Thursday morning.

Officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert just before 9:30 a.m. in the 1900 block of Oakhill Avenue, where the victim had been shot, police said. The victim was taken to a hospital, where he died. Police did not release the victim’s age.

A 35-year-old man was shot in the hand just after 11:30 a.m. in the 1500 block of North Broadway, police said.

Anyone with any information in any of these shootings may call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP.