Bloody Baltimore: No End Seen to Post-Freddie Gray Spike in Homicides, Shootings

Baltimore’s bloody summer ended with a barrage of bangs, as the rate of homicides and gun crimes continued to spike in the wake of the racially charged case of Freddie Gray, whose death in police custody left citizens angry and cops demoralized.

For September, homicides were up 39 percent and non-fatal shootings nearly doubled over the same month in 2014, continuing a disturbing trend that has gripped the Charm City since Gray’s death in April and the rioting that followed. For the year, murders are up 52 percent and non-fatal shootings 80 percent over last year . . .

For the year, the 246 homicides recorded through Sept. 26 put Baltimore dangerously close to the record pace of 1993, when 353 people were victims of homicide. The fact that the spike occurred after April 19 bodes even worse: Before the unrest following the Gray arrest, Baltimore had recorded 65 homicides for the year. A four-decade high of 42 homicides in May was topped in July when 45 people were killed in homicides, making Baltimore the second deadliest city in America on a per capita basis, trailing only St. Louis.

Whether due to demoralized cops, emboldened criminals or some combination of the two, the city is scrambling to turn the tide. Twenty-six killings in September represented a welcome drop from the record 43 seen in May, when the city was roiled by protests and police were ordered by the mayor to stand down in the face of riots. In a statistical quirk that may have an ominous explanation, other categories of violent crime, such as rape, robbery and assault, are only up marginally since the death of Gray, a drug suspect whose death in a police van led to criminal charges against six cops.

In the wake of the riots and amid a strong perception Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and other civic leaders did not support cops, union officials openly acknowledged that their members felt abandoned. (Read more from “Bloody Baltimore: No End Seen to Post-Freddie Gray Spike in Homicides, Shootings” HERE)

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