Police: Shootings Kill 4, Injure 6, Including 9-Year-Old Girl
BALTIMORE (WJZ)— Police are investigating a rash of shootings that left 10 people shot, four of them killed since Friday night in Baltimore.
A 9-year-old girl is among the latest victims of the city's mounting gun violence. It's what city leaders are calling an outrageous crime that shocks the conscience.
WJZ's Amy Yensi has the latest.
Shots rang out just before 10:00 p.m. in the 2400 block of Barclay Street. At the scene police find a 9-year-old girl suffering from a graze wound and 45-year-old Kirk Butler suffering from a gunshot wound. Butler later died at the hospital, the young is expected to make a full recovery. Police say Butler was the target and a gunman, possibly two, approached the victims in their own neighborhood.
Authorities are still searching for the shooter, they released this wanted poster on Saturday night.
"These bad guys who were involved in this incident shot a 9-year-old girl. And that should be something that outrages the entire community because it certainly outages us as a police department," said Baltimore Police spokesperson T.J. Smith.
And the killings didn't stop there.
A man was fatally shot around 9:50 p.m. on Friday in the 3800 block of Clifton Ave. Police identified the victim as 23-year-old Romel Simms.
Nearly an hour later, 26-year-old Thomas Meehan died from gunshot wounds after an unknown gunman opened fire at a playground in the 6100 block of Plantview Way.
The bloodshed continued through Saturday afternoon with several shootings that left six people shot and a man killed.
Police say that man was found suffering from gunshot wounds in the 1900 block of Vine Street. He later died at the hospital,
The 9-year-old is the youngest victim this month. Last week bullets struck two men and a 10-year-old playing nearby, in a shooting along West North Avenue.
"I think it's sad that kids always fall victim to stray bullets and violence that has nothing to do with the child," police said.
Butler's neighbor is still shocked by what happened on Barclay Street.
"He just didn't seem like the kind of person that would have people hate him that much to take his life," said Melvin Venable.
Despite the violence in the past 24 hours police say some of their anti-crime initiatives are working. The number of gun arrest and seizures are up 40-percent since July.
Police are pleading with the public to bring the shooters behind bars. Anyone with any information is asked to call 1-866-7LOCKUP.
