Four people were shot in the Oakenshawe neighborhood of Baltimore on Saturday afternoon, drawing criticism from officials about who is at fault.

Officers from the Northern District responded to the 400 block of Venable Avenue to investigate multiple calls of a shooting just before 2:30 p.m. When police arrived, they found three men, ages 18, 25 and 60, suffering from gunshot wounds.

The victims were transported to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

A short time later, a 57-year-old woman walked into an area hospital for treatment for a gunshot wound, police said. They believe she was also shot while in the 400 block of Venable Avenue.

Assistant Maryland Attorney General Patrick Sheridan said that for years, “neighbors have been complaining about” the corner where the shooting happened.

“A group hangs out in front of the corner store at all hours, dealing drugs and menacing people walking by,” Sheridan said. “I have repeatedly asked the police and Odette Ramos to do something about it.”

In a statement, Ramos said the area has been a spot for open air-drug dealing for more than 10 years. She called the shooting “extremely frustrating,” as she said she has asked for additional resources to address the drug activity at the intersection.

Over the past four years, Ramos’ office, along with the Waverly community, the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the Baltimore Police Department have worked to remove four open-air drug markets and have successfully removed three of them, Ramos said in her statement.

“Venable and Greenmount remain a challenge, and the violence has escalated, with two shootings in the last three weeks,” Ramos said.

She said that she’s demanded that the Group Violence Reduction Strategy — in initiative from the mayor’s office, the Baltimore state’s attorneys office and the police department that aims to address norms that perpetuate violence — be implemented in the Northern District.

“We know this strategy works and has worked across the city,” Ramos said. “While Northern District is slated to get GVRS sometime this year, we need it immediately given this incident and others in Northern District.”

The area where the shooting occurred has several vacant properties that Ramos said all have the same owner. She said she has contacted the owner to “do something with the properties or leave” and has submitted new 311 requests for all of the vacant buildings.

To further combat the issue with vacant properties, Ramos said she is working on legislation to create a new class of vacant properties to allow the city to take action when owners do not.

“Vacant properties send a message that no one cares, and that is absolutely not the case in this area,” Ramos said.

Anyone with information is urged to contact detectives at 410-396-2455.

Have a news tip? Contact Todd Karpovich at tkarpovich@baltsun.com or on X as @ToddKarpovich. Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.