2023 Ends With Uptick in Homicides, City Remains Under 300

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Baltimore ended 2023 under 300 homicides for the first time since 2015. Non-fatal shootings also dropped nearly 8 percent year-over-year. However, according to Baltimore Witness’ data, homicides slightly increased in December after two months of relatively stable and low numbers.

In December, there were 17 reported homicides and 40 non-fatal shootings. Homicides increased from 12 in November, but non-fatal shootings dropped from 46 that month.

In December the Southern District as the only district that did not have any homicides. In November, four police districts were homicide-free.

The North, East, Northwest and Southwest districts all reported two homicides each. One of the Northwest District’s murders was the death of 2-year-old Charlee Gamble on the 6000 block of Park Heights Avenue. Her father, 28-year-old Christopher Gamble, was arrested three days after her death. He is scheduled to appear in District Court for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 16.

In the Southwest District, December began with the murder of 69-year-old Anton Kancir at a bus stop on the 4000 block of Edmondson Avenue. After Metro Crime Stoppers offered an $8,000 reward for tips leading to an arrest in the case, BPD officers arrested 28-year-old Treymon Hughes-Boulware. According to Maryland Case Search, the case against Hughes-Boulware is inactive due to his incompetence.

The highest murder rates were found in the Western and Northeast districts, which reported three homicides for the month. One such incident in the Western District left 32-year-old Kayla Andujar dead and two others injured.

Only one shooting incident was reported in December unlike November when the Southwest District had 11 non-fatal shootings.

The highest concentration of non-fatal shootings in December was in the Western District with nine, which represented an increase of three from November. In one incident, a woman was shot multiple times on the 800 block of North Warwick street.

Following that, the Central District had six non-fatal shooting incidents, doubling its rate of three per month in October and November. The Northeast District’s non-fatal shootings also doubled, up from two in November, but down from five in October.

The Northern and Northeast districts both reported four shootings. Northeast District officers responded to the last shooting victims BPD reported in 2023: a 22-year-old man and 24-year-old man who separately walked into local hospitals. Investigators found a crime scene on the 5300 block of Frankford Avenue, where they believe both victims were shot.

The South, East and Southeast districts ended the month with three non-fatal shootings each. Two of the three Southeast District shootings involved 17-year-old males, one who walked into the hospital and one who was transported to the hospital after being shot on 400 block of Kenwood Avenue.

One homicide had an undetermined location., and four shootings had undetermined locations in December.

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