Baltimore sees troubling rise in violence involving teens

BALTIMORE -- While the number of murders and shootings in Baltimore has gone down in 2023 compared to the same time last year, there is a troubling rise in violence involving teenagers and children.

Police found a large gathering of teenagers Wednesday night at the Inner Harbor.

Earlier that day, a 15-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the shooting death of Baltimore boxer Ernest Hall. The teen is also accused of allegedly shooting five other people.

Last week, two teenagers were arrested for allegedly participating in a shooting that killed young mother Mya Morton.

She was fatally injured by gunfire while trying to drive her children away from bullets that flew near Upton's busiest intersection. 

These are just some of the latest examples of the growing problem of teen violence in Baltimore since the start of 2023

Since the start of 2023, five children under 18 have been fatally shot and another 21 have been injured by gunfire, according to Baltimore police.

Three children were killed within blocks of their schools. 

Dr. Ted Sutton, a community activist who works with children daily, said the troubling trend of youth violence isn't causing concern among the people he works with.  

"To be real honest with you, it's such an unfortunate situation because they're not talking about, 'We need to ratchet down,' or, 'We're just going to stay in the house now,' or, 'We're not going to go anywhere," Sutton said. "They feel the need to try to protect themselves."

On Wednesday night, a large group of children gathered in the streets of downtown Baltimore. 

Police said no arrests were made and there were no injuries at the Inner Harbor.

Sutton said there easily could have been trouble. 

"A child has the ability to get on TikTok, Facebook or Instagram and say, look, I want everyone from my school to turn up, we're going to meet in this area," Sutton said. "That has changed how we have to handle different things."