Charles Village On Alert After 2 Violent Crimes
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- The Charles Village neighborhood is on alert. A string of high-profile crimes has the community and Johns Hopkins students afraid.
Meghan McCorkell has reaction to the violence.
On Thursday morning, a man was shot along St. Paul Street, just steps away from a crime that rocked the Charles Village community.
Police are concerned with a spate of violent crime in Charles Village.
"It's unacceptable and atrocious that this activity is taking place in this city," said Baltimore Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
Just before 6 a.m., a man walking from a friend's home was approached by a robber. He gave up everything he had, but the robber shot him in the leg anyway.
"It's something else out here, man," Danny Evans, a resident of Charles Village, said. "You can't even walk down the street without somebody trying to rob you."
The shooting brings back bad memories.
Just feet away, flowers mark the spot where Stephen Pitcairn, 23, died. The Johns Hopkins researcher was killed in July 2010 when a robber stabbed him.
"What spawned the violence? It's the economy. It's a violent world," Frank Bey, who works in Charles Village, said.
About half a mile away from Thursday's shooting, a Johns Hopkins student was sexually assaulted in an alley on Saturday. Now the university is on alert.
"Increased patrols, both our own people and off-duty Baltimore police," Guglielmi said.
On bike, by car and on foot, campus police are keeping watch as the university reminds students to take precautions.
"Don't walk alone. Walk in well-lit areas, walk preferably in crowded areas where there are other pedestrians around," Dennis O'Shea, executive director of communications and public affairs at Johns Hopkins University, said.
Ruby Fulton teaches in Charles Village and is on alert.
"A little more careful, yeah. Maybe a little more mindful of the circumstances," she said.
Members of the Charles Village Civic Association meet monthly with police to discuss safety. They met Wednesday night, right before this latest shooting.
The man shot on Thursday is in serious condition. So far, police have not made any arrests in either the shooting or the sexual assault.
