bmore:homicide rate ranked 2nd highest for 06

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bmore:homicide rate ranked 2nd highest for 06

Unread post by Qdawg » June 5th, 2007, 1:04 am

Death on the streets
Homicides make city 2nd-most perilous in nation
By Nicole Fuller
sun reporter
Originally published June 5, 2007

Baltimore's homicide rate last year surpassed all of the nation's largest cities with the exception of Detroit, according to FBI crime statistics released yesterday.

Violent crime as a whole in Baltimore was down almost 13 percent in 2006 compared with 2005 and is continuing to drop this year, bucking an increase of 1.3 percent nationally, statistics show.

Police said aggravated assaults and rape were down while robberies and homicides were up from 2005 to 2006. The downward trend of aggravated assaults continued through this year, but the number of rapes so far is about the same compared to 2006. Robberies so far are down compared with last year.

This year, the city has recorded 128 killings in the first 155 days, putting it on a pace for 300 slayings, a level not seen in Baltimore since 1999.

The number of shootings is up to 303 this year, compared with 224 shootings last year at the same time - a 35 percent jump, city police said.

Baltimore's homicide rate in 2006 was more than twice that of Chicago and six times higher than New York City's, which saw a small increase in slayings in 2006 from the previous year.

Detroit, which has a population of about 884,000, reported 417 homicides last year - making it America's deadliest large city with a homicide rate of 47 per 100,000 residents.

Baltimore, with about 637,000 people, had 276 killings last year, giving it a homicide rate of 43, according to data released by federal officials. (Baltimore officials had reported last year's homicide total as 275 but said state police, in reviewing data for submission to federal authorities, added a shooting that has been ruled justified.) Washington, with 169 slayings for 581,000 people, had a rate of 29.

Among cities with fewer than 100,000 people, Gary, Ind., with 48 killings for 99,000 people led the pack with the highest homicide rate.

The homicide rate dropped in two other big cities, Dallas and Los Angeles.

Henry H. Brownstein, a criminal justice researcher at the University of Chicago, cautioned against drawing any firm conclusions based on the past two years.

"This is the second year that the murder rate's rising" in Baltimore and nationally, Brownstein said. "It's starting to make people nervous. You really want to wait. It could be an aberration.

"After three years it's a trend," the analyst said. "It's harder to turn it around when it keeps happening. One year or two years, it could be a blip. But once it's three years, you have to look and say, 'What's going on in Baltimore? Are there more gangs? How has the drug market changed? Are there a lot more guns on the street?'"

Matt Jablow, a spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department, credited the city's decrease in overall violent crime to law enforcement efforts to target repeat offenders.

"We did a good job of targeting repeat violent offenders, getting people off the street that were causing problems in our communities," Jablow said. "That continues to be our strategy this year."

Jablow said that overall violent crime, as of the end of May, is down 13 percent compared with the same time last year. "But obviously we have some more work to do, because no one is pleased with the homicide and shooting numbers," he said.

According to Jablow, more than 80 percent of the city's homicide victims and close to 90 percent of its murder suspects have lengthy criminal records.

"Baltimore is becoming an increasingly safer city for law-abiding citizens but has become an increasingly dangerous city for those that live outside the law," Jablow said. "We see it over and over with our homicide victims and suspects: They're people who've been arrested, five, 10, 15 times. We have to get these people off the streets for longer periods of time."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/ ... -headlines

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Unread post by Qdawg » June 5th, 2007, 1:32 am

Man, 28, fatally shot in West Baltimore
Originally published June 4, 2007

A Baltimore man was fatally shot yesterday morning on a street in West Baltimore making him the city's third homicide victim of the weekend.

Two other homicides occurred Saturday.

The latest reported homicide victim was Curtis Alexander, 28, of the 100 block of S. East Ave., who was found shot in the 1900 block of W. Lanvale St. about 10 a.m. yesterday by Western District police responding to a report of shots fired, said Officer Nicole Monroe, a police spokeswoman. He died a short time later at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

About noon Saturday, the body of Shirley Cooper, 72, was found in her apartment in the 2600 block of E. Madison St. Police said Cooper had been stabbed multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday, police responding to a report of a shooting in an alley in the 2600 block of Violet Ave. in Northwest Baltimore found David Elijah Washington, 24, who lived nearby, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body.

Police said Washington died a short time later at Sinai Hospital.

No arrests had been made in any of the homicides and motives were unknown.

Metro Crime Stoppers at 410-276-8888 is offering a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest and an indictment in the slayings.

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Unread post by Qdawg » June 5th, 2007, 1:36 pm

Man fatally shot in Northeast Baltimore
Slaying is city's 129th, 13 more than last year for the same period
By Gus G. Sentementes
Sun Reporter
Originally published June 5, 2007, 7:41 AM EDT

Baltimore police reported that a man was fatally shot this morning in the city's Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhood.

Shortly after midnight, Northeastern District police officers responded to a call for a shooting in the 1700 block of E. 30 St., police said. They found a 30-year-old man suffering from apparent gunshot wounds to his head and body, police said.

He was transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:33 a.m. Police will release his name after his relatives have been notified of his death.

The man became the city's 129th homicide victim this year -- 13 more victims than last year for the same period, crime statistics show.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/ ... -headlines

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Unread post by Qdawg » June 6th, 2007, 1:36 am

Cabdriver shot to death in Charles Village area
By Richard Irwin
Sun Reporter
Originally published June 6, 2007

A cabdriver was fatally shot last night as he transported a passenger in Baltimore's Charles Village after a road rage incident on a nearby street, city police said.
No arrest had been made late last night, and the nature of the argument was not known, said Agent Donny Moses, a city police spokesman.

About 9 p.m., Northern District police received a call of a shooting in the 100 block of W. 28th St. between Maryland Avenue and North Howard Street, Moses said.

"When police arrived, they found the driver of a Checker cab slumped in the driver's seat bleeding from a bullet wound to the head," Moses said.

He said the driver, whose name was not immediately released, was taken by a city Fire Department ambulance to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:30 p.m. A male passenger in the cab was not injured.

Moses said police were interviewing the cab's passenger in an effort to learn where the argument occurred and what it was about.

The police spokesman said the cab and a dark car were each traveling eastbound in the 100 block of W. 28th St. when, during an argument, a passenger or the driver of the other vehicle fired at least one shot that struck the cabdriver in the head.

The dark car sped away, and its driver tried to go north on southbound-only Maryland Avenue, then backed up and struck a car ahead of the cab before speeding away on 28th Street. The driver of the other car was not hurt.

Moses said that after the cabdriver was shot, the cab stopped or drifted backward and struck a car directly behind it. The female driver of that car was not injured.

Morris Hunt, 44, said he was in his home several doors from the shooting scene when he heard one gunshot.

"Then I heard the sound of a crash, and that was probably the cab hitting the car behind it," said Hunt, a Johns Hopkins University employee.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/ ... timorecity

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Unread post by Qdawg » June 7th, 2007, 12:22 am

[quote="Qdawg"]Cabdriver shot to death in Charles Village area
By Richard Irwin
Sun Reporter
Originally published June 6, 2007

A cabdriver was fatally shot last night as he transported a passenger in Baltimore's Charles Village after a road rage incident on a nearby street, city police said.
No arrest had been made late last night, and the nature of the argument was not known, said Agent Donny Moses, a city police spokesman.

About 9 p.m., Northern District police received a call of a shooting in the 100 block of W. 28th St. between Maryland Avenue and North Howard Street, Moses said.

"When police arrived, they found the driver of a Checker cab slumped in the driver's seat bleeding from a bullet wound to the head," Moses said.

He said the driver, whose name was not immediately released, was taken by a city Fire Department ambulance to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:30 p.m. A male passenger in the cab was not injured.

Moses said police were interviewing the cab's passenger in an effort to learn where the argument occurred and what it was about.

The police spokesman said the cab and a dark car were each traveling eastbound in the 100 block of W. 28th St. when, during an argument, a passenger or the driver of the other vehicle fired at least one shot that struck the cabdriver in the head.

The dark car sped away, and its driver tried to go north on southbound-only Maryland Avenue, then backed up and struck a car ahead of the cab before speeding away on 28th Street. The driver of the other car was not hurt.

Moses said that after the cabdriver was shot, the cab stopped or drifted backward and struck a car directly behind it. The female driver of that car was not injured.

Morris Hunt, 44, said he was in his home several doors from the shooting scene when he heard one gunshot.

"Then I heard the sound of a crash, and that was probably the cab hitting the car behind it," said Hunt, a Johns Hopkins University employee.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/ ... timorecity[/quote]

Witnesses Describe Cab Driver's Last Moments
Jun 7, 2007

(WJZ) BALTIMORE His name was Mustafa Ghulam and he was a cab driver from Pakistan who was murdered by an unknown killer in what police are calling a cold-blooded act of road rage.

As the search for the murderer continues, Kai Jackson talked to several people nearby the scene on West 28th Street just moments after Ghulam was shot in the head.

"He was slumped over on his side," said one man who heard the accident and rushed outside with his wife to see what happened. "It was incredibly disheartening to see a cab driver be shot, especially two doors down from where you live."

Another witness described the chilling attack in the Charles Village neighborhood as a shock.

"I hit the floor because I was afraid. This had never happened in our neighborhood," said another witness, who did not want to be identified. "When I stood up, I saw the cab driver come backwards, hitting the first car. At that point, I called 911."

Sources said the cab driver put his car in reverse, when moments later, someone in the car police are looking for pulled a weapon. Witnesses reported hearing only one gunshot.

Muhammad Islam is a Baltimore cab driver who said the murder has him fearing for his life. Although he did not know Ghulam he said his heart goes out to his family heartbroken family.

Dwight Kines is the general manager of Ghulam's cab company.

"This was not an attack against a cab driver. This was a random act against a fellow citizen," Kines said.

Ghulam was was married and worked full-time for Yellow Transportation for two years.

"This is a nasty, nasty situation, and obviously we're very sorry. Our heart goes out to the family," Kines said.

Eyewitness News has learned there was a passenger in the back seat. That passenger was a regular customer. Those who spoke to him said he's shaken, but unharmed.

The suspect's car was described as a small dark vehicle that fled on 28th Street, after hitting another car. Police are not sure what started the argument.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Baltimore City Police or 911.

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Unread post by Qdawg » June 9th, 2007, 10:03 am

City police investigate 2 city deaths
Overnight shootings bring homicide count to 133
By Ruma Kumar and Sandy Alexander
Sun Reporters
Originally published June 9, 2007, 11:57 AM EDT

Baltimore City police are investigating two overnight homicides in Northeast Baltimore that brought this year's total to 133 --18 more than the tally this time last year.

Just before 8 p.m. last night, police responded to the 1900 block of Collington Ave. after receiving calls about a shooting. They found Craig A. Hunter, 29, bleeding under a car parked on the street.

Authorities said he had been shot several times in the chest. He was rushed to Johns Hopkins Hospital and was pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m. Witnesses told police they saw two men shoot Hunter, who had a rap sheet with more than 15 arrests over the last decade for various drug charges, according to a public records check.

The suspects -- both black males wearing blue jean shorts and white T-shirts -- were seen running south on Collington Avenue and disappeared into an alley off East North Avenue. One suspect was described as having short hair, while the other was said to have his hair in dreadlocks.

Agent Donny Moses, a police spokesman, said authorities don't know the reason for the shooting and have no more leads on the suspects.

Another shooting was reported around 1:30 a.m. today on East Preston Street. Moses said the male victim's name was not known today but that his identity is expected to be determined later this weekend using fingerprints. He was found on a sidewalk in the 900 block of East Preston St. with a gunshot wound to his head. He was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital and was pronounced dead at 1:59 a.m.

"Because of the late hour, officers were not able to get witnesses or information on any suspects," Moses said.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/ ... -headlines

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Unread post by senseofhumorgirl_ » July 23rd, 2007, 6:09 pm

Am I the only one here who thinks that the way the economy has been working in the favor of the wealthy recently is just one root to the problem? It's like the poor don't even matter, which makes me mad. No one deserves to live this way and maybe this should be a wake up call to try to even out the socioeconomic disparities in the city, not to mention the socioeconomic segregation that is in almost every city and it's wrong.

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