Police investigating possible link between Canton murder, recent carjackings

BALTIMORE -- There have been a string of carjackings in quiet Baltimore neighborhoods.

There have been two in Canton in less than a week.

The most recent one happened at a gas station Tuesday morning on South Luzerne Street in Canton. Police said armed suspects stole a Jeep.

"I walk the dog here a lot and I utilize this gas station, myself," Samantha Collado, who lives in Canton said.  "So, it's pretty concerning… I think what is so surprising about this is that it happened, like, at 8 am. daylight hours."

The other carjacking police are investigating in Canton happened Friday on South Curley Street near the popular O'Donnell Square.

Darrell Benner, 57, was shot to death, and the suspects got away in his car.

Canton isn't the only quiet neighborhood dealing with these types of crimes.

Police say a 15-year-old tried to carjack an off-duty police officer around 3 a.m. Monday morning in the 1300 block of Walker Avenue.

The officer shot at the suspect.

Neighbors witnessed the aftermath.

"When we pulled up, the police were pulling up trying to figure out what was going on," Shorty Black, from Baltimore, said.

Investigators said the teen got away in another stolen car, but was found with a graze wound a few hours later.

Detectives said he confessed to the attempted carjacking. Police arrested the teen.

The officer is on administrative leave.

Baltimore Police said carjackings are down this year even though there have been a string of them recently.

At this time last year, there were 466. There have been 308 so far this year.

"I definitely will try to be more cautious," Collado said.

Despite the decrease, neighbors said they will be watching their backs.

"Definitely going to have to think about how I operate and keep my head on a swivel for lack of a better term," Collado said.

There have been no arrests in Benner's murder yet.

Police tell WJZ they are trying to determine if any of these recent carjackings are related.