'It's Getting Out Of Hand' | Violence Hits City Through First Baltimore Ceasefire Weekend Of 2020
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Just a block from Baltimore Police Headquarters, Andre Giles was shot last month on East Baltimore Street.
He died early Monday morning.
Police made a quick arrest in his homicide, but cases are continuing to pile up still.
The weekend's only homicide happened in Cherry Hill. Police said Keith Thomas was fatally shot along Coppin Court around 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
A man was also shot and killed on West Lexington Avenue just after 1 p.m. Monday.
"(It's) totally unacceptable that we're letting a small percentage of criminals just wreak havoc on the city of Baltimore," Mayor Bernard C. "Jack" Young said.
The violence spanned through "Ceasefire Weekend," a grassroots movement to spread a message of non-violence.
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"This is getting out of hand. It's getting out of hand," said Baltimore resident Damon Gibson.
"We need to do something, even if it's small," said Lois Sullivan, another city another resident.
"That's what's missing. People feel hopelessness and we have to do something about that," Young said.
Homicides are outpacing last year's numbers, year-to-date, averaging almost one a day.
Non-fatal shootings are trending down, although Saturday night, officers took on gunfire.
"Get Fox up, shots fired! They're shooting at the car!" the officers could be heard saying over the radio.
City police said they tried stopping a car involved in a shooting and robberies on Cold Spring Lane.
"They shot out the window and hit a victim, 10-4.," an officer on the radio said.
Officers did not return fire and arrested the suspects after they bailed. The city's police union said officers have "little support" from the administration and city leaders.
Police Commissioner Michael Harrison disagrees.
"We are delivering the resources and delivering on promises we've made as evidence of that support," he said.
Harrison cited a higher clearance rate than last year, although the cases of the six people murdered this past week all remain open.
Police identified those recent victims Monday. If you have any information on the murders of Jermell Rhames, Sean Holt, Khaled Heeba, Davon Evans or Keith Thomas; you're urged to contact police.
