Homicide detectives were on the scene of a shooting in a residential neighborhood in Southwest Baltimore Friday afternoon — the latest incident of surging violence headed into Memorial Day weekend.
Since Wednesday, at least eight people have been killed in Baltimore. There have been more than 300 shootings in the city this year — a 16 percent increase over this time last year.
The shooting in the 500 block of Normandy in the Allendale area left shell casings in the street, and a detective stood over a pair of sneakers and clothes as he investigated. Police on the scene declined to comment.
"It scared me; my children play outside," said a woman who lives nearby and asked that her name not be used. "It's crazy they shot that boy like that."
Vernon Atkins, 68, who lives in the neighborhood, blamed the violence on "young hoppers" involved in the drug trade.
James Rodgers, 90, who lives nearby, said his neighborhood was nicer in the 1950s and '60s before the rise of the drug trade.
"It's terrible," he said of the shooting. "It wasn't like this years ago. It's mostly these youngsters causing the trouble. They don't want to go get a job."