BPD Cancels Officer Leave, Beefs Up Patrol After 37 Murders In September

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — September saw 37 murders in Baltimore, the most in any month since May 2017.

"It's scary. I'm afraid to walk down the street. People are afraid to come out of their homes. It's terrible," said Theresa Collins, a Federal Hill resident.

25-year-old Timothy Moriconi was gunned down in the Federal Hill neighborhood last week.

Victim Identified In Federal Hill Shooting

The same day, 26-year-old Jonathan Greendige, a former football standout at Calvert Hall and South Arkansas was shot and killed in North Baltimore.

A crime walk Monday night in Federal Hill brought hope for some, but just hours after, two more people were shot not far from the Cross Street Market in Federal Hill.

An 18-year-old was shot in the NE district and a 40-year-old man was gunned down near New York Road and Homeland Avenue.

Three Men Wounded In Two Shootings Overnight In Baltimore

"We are scrubbing our building for personnel to get out on the streets," said interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle.

Police are now beefing up patrols to deal with the surge and canceling leave for the next few days.

Following Federal Hill Shooting, Neighbors Demand More Police Presence

"I can promise residents that we're going to be out there with a presence. The goal with that is to deter crime. It's going to cost a lot, the overtime and the different approaches, but it has to be done," Tuggle said.

Mayor Pugh still defends her approach to combat the violence.

"Crime is still trending downward but April and September were our worst months," Pugh said. "We've had enough of the violence. It's too much. Everyone has. It has to stop,"

Just last week, the FBI put out their crime report that showed Baltimore had the highest murder rate among major cities in the U.S.

The city had 343 homicides in 2017.

As of Tuesday night, Baltimore was at 234 homicides for all of 2018.

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