Baltimore reports it had its 301st homicide this year on Saturday. In 2014, the city recorded 211 deaths, which is roughly 42 percent lower than this year's figure.
With over a month to go before the year ends, people fear that the 2015 homicide count may surpass the 305 homicide count of 1999.
On Saturday, police officers were called in at 4:45 p.m. to the 3200 block of West Baltimore Street, where they found the 300th victim: a 27-year-old man who was stabbed multiple times in the chest, marking the city's grim milestone.
According to the police, the 300th victim was stabbed in the unit block of North Abington, and then he fled to West Baltimore Street before collapsing. He was reportedly killed right after the rally of the anti-violence group 300 Men March.
A few hours later at 9:15 p.m., police officers were called in to another crime scene. At the 2500 block of Annapolis Road, they found the 301st victim: a 22-year-old man who was shot in the chest, upping the count by one.
"[A]s our city experiences a sad homicide milestone tonight, it's important to pause and vow to continue our collective fight to find a better path forward. Baltimore will win again, 2015 will not define us, and the nation will once again see our city for the determination that has long defined us," Kevin Davis, Baltimore's police commissioner, says in a statement.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says that the city must work together to stand against the violence.
"The 300th homicide is no more tragic than the first homicide of 2015, or the 50th, or the 200th. Every victim leaves family, friends and a neighborhood who mourn their loss," she says.
The rapid increase of homicides is believed to be caused by the death of Freddie Gray, a black man, while he was in police custody. Six police officers have been charged.
Criminal experts suggest that drugs and access to handguns, as well as police officers' fear of being recorded and wrongly labeled of brutality, are part of the causes of the upsurge in homicides.
Photo: Elliott Plack | Flickr
