Another violent weekend in city, as 18 people are shot, four fatally
Four people were killed and at least 14 others wounded during another violent weekend in Baltimore.
Three gunmen planned and carried out an attack in East Baltimore on Saturday night, police said. They shot eight people, including a 3-year-old girl, in what police said was retaliation for a killing on Labor Day.
“This was a planned, premeditated act,” Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said.
Wounded in a separate shooting was an 8-year-old boy, another child caught up in the city's mayhem. The boy was shot in his foot Saturday.
Baltimore has recorded 230 killings this year. That's down from 246 at the same point last year, when the city set a record for the most killings per capita. But it's still ahead of the pace of previous years.
Police and prosecutors announced the formation this month of an elite unit of detectives and prosecutors to focus on putting triggermen behind bars — the latest in a series of efforts aimed at stemming the violence.
Two men were shot to death on Sunday.
A 26-year-old man was shot in the 100 block of N. Smallwood St. in the Penrose/Fayette Street Outreach neighborhood of West Baltimore just after 2 a.m., police said. He was pronounced dead at Bon Secours Hospital. Police did not release his name.
Another man was shot to death in the 4300 block of Park Heights Ave. in the Central Park Heights neighborhood of Northwest Baltimore about 5:45 p.m. Sunday, police said. Police did not release his name or age.
They followed two deaths earlier in the weekend.
A 26-year-old man was shot to death in the first block of S. Carey St. in the Hollins Market neighborhood of Southwest Baltimore about 1 p.m. Saturday, police said.
A 30-year-old man was shot in the leg and stomach on the 1800 block of N. Calvert St. in the Greenmount West neighborhood shortly after 3 a.m. Friday, police said. The man died at a hospital.
Police were investigating at least three other shootings Sunday.
A 68-year-old man was grazed by a bullet in the 1300 block of E. Lanvale St. in the Oliver neighborhood of East Baltimore about 12:30 p.m., police said.
About 90 minutes later, officers found a 28-year-old man shot in the arm in the 4300 block of York Road in North Baltimore, police said.
Both men were expected to survive.
Then about 4 p.m., a 24-year-old man was shot in his arm and torso in the 500 block of N. Calhoun St. in the Harlem Park neighborhood of West Baltimore, police said.
In the broadest attack, three gunmen converged on the 700 block of E. Preston St. about 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the Johnston Square neighborhood and opened fire on a crowd, police said.
Michael Sachse was reading “Curious George at the Aquarium” to his 3-year-old daughter when gunshots erupted beneath the bedroom window.
“All I heard was pop-pop-pop-pop,” Sachse said.
His wife rushed their daughter to the back of the house. Sachse threw open the window.
Outside, a neighbor was shot in her leg and bleeding on the sidewalk. Sachse saw a man carry the 3-year-old victim to a car and drive off.
“It could have been me,” he said Sunday afternoon.
When the barrage ended, six men in their 20s and 30s had also been shot, police said. The gunmen — one of them armed with a shotgun and two with handguns — ran away.
Police were still looking for them Sunday.
By then, most signs of the attack had been cleared away. There was a bullet hole through the rear window of a car parked on the block.
Neighbors sat quietly on their steps. Few wanted to talk about the attack.
“They're scared,” said a woman, who declined to be identified. “They ain't talking too much.”
Investigators linked the attack to a triple shooting on Labor Day about two miles away.
In the Sept. 5 attack, police said, a woman shot and killed one man and wounded two women in the Madison-Eastend neighborhood of East Baltimore.
One of the women who was shot was pregnant.
The shooting followed an argument, police said.
Police accused Marion “Nephew” Daughton, 31, said she was a member of the Bloods gang and named her Public Enemy No. 1.
Daughton was soon arrested, and has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault and gun violations. She is being held without bail pending a preliminary hearing Oct. 4 in District Court.
Toniasha Manique Johnson, 23, is also charged with first-degree murder in the shooting. She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing oct. 6 in District Court.
Police said they had no information that Saturday night's shooting of eight people was gang-related. They would not say why they believed it was linked to the Labor Day shooting.
On Sunday afternoon, Sachse reflected on his block and the shootings.
“It's crazy,” he said. “Hopefully, everything will calm down.”
Then he went inside and shut the door.
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