'They just go straight to the gun': Recent shootings highlight spike in youth violence

BALTIMORE - Youth violence across Maryland is spurring curfews, counseling and trauma care.

Two teenagers were killed Friday in Baltimore City and Windsor Mill. 

Mervo High School student Jeremiah Brogden, 17, was shot and killed shortly after school dismissal Friday. Baltimore County Police identified Travis Slaughter, 14, as the victim of a homicide later that night after a Milford Mill football game near the corner of Liberty Road and Washington Avenue.

Earlier this month, a 19-year-old security guard was killed outside an apartment complex near the Morgan State University campus.

On Monday night, a 13-year-old boy was shot on E. Madison Avenue in East Baltimore. Neighbors say it happened near the corner of Madison and Montford.

"Random gunshots-five, six gunshots," said resident Mark Backmon. "These kids, they don't fight with their hands. They just go straight to the gun."

Backmon experienced the trauma of gun violence multiple times the past six years. Backmon's son, Kaleaf, was shot and killed in 2016, and his oldest daughter, Keisha, was killed in 2020.

The University of Maryland Baltimore on Tuesday announced the creation of the UMB Center for Violence Prevention to study gun violence.

"For the first time, last year, in our history, more children under the age of 20 died of guns than traffic accidents," said Dr. Mark Gladwin, dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks on Monday announced a 30-day curfew for teenagers after the deadliest month the county has experienced in decades. County police report 24 killings in August.