Remember all the fuss over former Baltimore resident poor old Freddie Gray with a rap sheet as long as your arm?
So I'm starting to wonder where is the same outrage now that there are 343 homicides so far this year? Was Freddie's life more relevant than the rest? Yes, it was...because the pillar of the community was killed by the cops.
To put things in perspective The homicide rate in Baltimore for 2017 is now 55.8 killings per 100,000 people. Mexico is at 18.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, Brazil and Colombia both had a murder rate of 27 per 100,000, Venezuela 57, Honduras 64. The entire U.S. rate was 5 per 100,000.
There are still a few days left to break the record. Bet if they put their minds to it they can push that number up to 365. That gives them one a day just like the vitamin.
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With two fatal shootings Tuesday night, the recent reclassification of a decades-old shooting as a killing and another homicide Wednesday evening, Baltimore has hit 343 homicides in 2017, and a new record for killings per capita.
The homicide rate for 2017 is now 55.8 killings per 100,000 people. The previous record was 55.35 per 100,000 in 2015. The city suffered 344 homicides that year, but had thousands of more residents.
The most homicides to occur in a year was 353 in 1993, but the city had some 100,000 more residents then.
Officers called to the 3700 block of Arcadia Ave. in the Langston Hughes neighborhood of Northwest Baltimore at about 4:40 p.m. Tuesday found 18-year-old Quincy Hammonds with gunshot wounds to his body, police said.
Hammonds, of the 1900 block of Middleview Court, was taken to a local hospital, where he died, police said.
Officers responding to a report of a shooting near the intersection of 38th Street and Old York Road in the Waverly neighborhood of North Baltimore at about 10:04 p.m. found an unresponsive male victim with gunshot wounds in a crashed vehicle in the 3700 block of Ellerslie Ave., police said.
He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Police on Wednesday also announced the death of William Wallace, 38. Wallace was shot in the head on June 15, 1995, in the 800 block of Durham St. in East Baltimore. He suffered a seizure in Heritage Crossing on Sept. 4 and was found unresponsive.
The medical examiner has ruled Wallace’s death a homicide as a result of the injuries he suffered in the 1995 shooting, police said.
Later Wednesday, officers responded to the 200 block of N. Hilton Street and found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to his back. He was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries. Police believe the man was in the 200 block of Monastery Avenue when he was shot. Homicide detectives are investigating.
Kara, 33, and Sheree, 27, who did not want to give their last names out of concern about violence in the area, said they were waiting to turn off of North Hilton Street when a vehicle came up behind, hitting an oncoming vehicle and then their own.
A man jumped out of the car and said, “I’m shot! I’m shot!” then jumped into the backseat of their car, where young children were sitting, they said.
“I just don’t want to be out here,” Kara said. “You’re in the car minding your own business, and look what happens.”
Sheree said there’s a group of young men who hang out on the corner where police say the shooting broke out.
“You’ve got the young generation growing up, trying to be in gangs. It ain’t safe out here,” Sheree said.
Also Wednesday, police identified a man killed in the 900 block of Poplar Grove on Dec. 14 as Ali Ouedraogo.
Police asked anyone with information about the fatal shootings to call homicide detectives at 410-396-2100, text a tip to 443-902-4824, or call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-LOCK-UP.
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