Violent crime in Baltimore City spiked by 13 percent, mostly driven by non-fatal shootings that showed an increase across the city, especially toward the latter end of the month.
Half the city’s non-fatal shooting incidents last month occurred during the final week of March, with 10 shootings marking the period between March 24 and March 31 alone. Two of those shootings occurred downtown.
Non-fatal shooting rates increased by two-thirds in March, from 12 shooting incidents in February to 20 shootings last month, according to Baltimore Witness data.
The increase in non-fatal shootings led to incidents such as one on March 24. According to police documents, officers responded to the 700 block of E. Eager Street to find a 26-year-old man suffering from a non-critical gunshot wound. He is expected to survive his injuries after receiving treatment at an area hospital.
The same day, two more men were injured in shootings across the city, including a 59-year-old man who sustained multiple gunshot wounds in Yale Heights and a 39-year-old man who was shot minutes before 1 p.m. in Northwest Baltimore. No arrests have been announced in either shooting.
Just six days later, at approximately 7 p.m., two men were shot in their extremities on the 300 block of N. Eutaw Street, near the Lexington Market Metro Station. Police reported that the victims, a 19-year-old man and a 21-year-old man, were listed in stable condition following transportation to a nearby hospital.
Homicides in March decreased by nearly half from 11 homicides in February to six homicides in March.
Of the six homicides that occurred in March, the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) only announced an arrest in one.
On April 1, authorities apprehended 49-year-old Rene Parks and charged her with the first-degree murder of her husband, 43-year-old Garreth Parks Jr., at their West Baltimore home on the 3700 block of W. Belvedere Avenue.
Officers responded to the residence shortly after 10 p.m. on March 31, where they learned a domestic dispute had unfolded on Garreth’s birthday. Garreth was transported to an area hospital, where he later died.
Just six days prior, on the evening of March 25, 18-year-old Jesiah Myles was fatally shot in the head in Northeast Baltimore. Police responded to the 1200 block of Rossiter Avenue and pronounced Myles deceased on the scene. Officials have yet to announce an arrest in connection to the teenager’s death.
