Baltimore City Police Investigate String Of Weekend Shootings, 1 Suspect Arrested
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—It was a violent weekend in the city. That is keeping city investigators busy.
Andrea Fujii reports three people are dead.
Police are questioning several witnesses as they try to figure out what led to six different shootings throughout the city.
The bloodshed started Friday night when police say a 27-year-old man survived a shooting on North Pulaski Street during a robbery.
Later that night, 23-year-old Lawrence Edwards was gunned down and died on Elsinore Avenue.
Early Saturday morning, 32-year-old Jefferey Smith was shot and killed just off Bel Air Road.
His friend Anthony Jasper isn't surprised by the violence.
"As time goes by, I'm trying to deal with it, but you never know what could happen in this neighborhood," Jasper said.
Early Sunday morning, Dayon Barnes, 27, was found dead in his car on Smallwood Street. Police say he was shot multiple times.
Soon after, a 30-year-old taxi driver had a bullet graze his back while police say two passengers robbed him on Sisson Street.
The victim told officers that he was operating a taxi cab and dropped off two passengers on Sisson Street. One of the passengers demanded money from the victim and then shot him in the back. The passengers then fled from the location on foot. The victim flagged down a passerby and was driven to the hospital.
"We do have a person of interest identified in that case," said Anthony Guglielmi, city police spokesperson.
That person of interest is 24-year-old Maurice Turner, who was arrested Monday afternoon. Turner now faces attempted murder, robbery and handgun charges. He is being held at Central Booking.
And on Sunday night, a man was shot in the chest on North Belnord Avenue. He is recovering.
So far this year there've been 192 homicides in the city, down 10 percent from last year. But police say that's no cause for celebration.
"We continue to target bad guys with guns as the commissioner would say, and we're going to keep doing that no matter what the numbers are or what the weekends bring," Guglielmi said.
Despite that assurance, longtime city resident James Kinsler says he doesn't feel safe.
"It's the mindset of people this day and time. People don't have the value of life like they used to," Kinsler said.
Also over the weekend police made two robbery arrests and an attempted murder arrest.
Police don't have any clear motives for the murders. But they are looking into neighborhood disputes, drug issues, or possible robberies. They are conducting several witness interviews and hope someone will come forward with information to these crimes.
