Baltimore Struggles To Curb Crime As Homicide Count Reaches Nearly 300
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The struggle to curb crime continues in Baltimore as the city's homicide rate climbs close to 300 this year.
Weekend homicides has Baltimore on the verge of 300 deadly shootings this year.
Baltimore On The Verge Of Hitting 300 Homicides
The homicide rate in the city points to the need for more tools in the approach to violence in Baltimore.
The video is shocking -- the gunman now serving life in prison opened fire on a group of men outside stop one grocery and deli on garrison boulevard in northwest Baltimore - killing two men, wounding four more in November 2016.
Last night, someone shot and killed the store owner.
Store Owner Shot And Killed On Store Block Saturday Night
The 64-year old Mousa Muhammad Jaber is the 298th homicide in the city this year.
While police look for suspects in this shooting, Mayor Catherine Pugh reinforced the work of the city's safe streets centers, in which reformed criminals act as intermediaries in disputes in order to prevent violence.
"What we're experiencing on the streets of our city is about territorializing different parts of the city: if I'm going to sell drugs over here then you can't come over here. If you come over here I'm going to shoot you here and then the next thing you know my sister my daughter my father my mother," said Mayor Pugh. "Somebody gets caught up in the crossfire."
While the mayor says crime is down this year, it's not down far enough.
"We've got to teach folks that life is valuable. These folks don't get up off the ground and get to live another day or to have another conversation with their daughter their father their mother their sister their cousin - they don't get to do that," Pugh said.
There were 342 homicides in Baltimore last year.
The mayor's violence reduction initiative includes attacking the root causes of violence, poverty and lack of opportunity.
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