A 7-year-old boy found the bound body of his father, shot and partially submerged in the bathtub of his Northeast Baltimore home, late yesterday afternoon, city police reported.

The death of Bernard Martin, a 33-year-old nightshift postal worker, was one of three homicides in Baltimore yesterday. The others occurred early in the morning outside a downtown nightclub and on the city's east side.

According to Sgt. Barry Grant, a homicide investigator, the boy, cared for after school by a female neighbor, went to his home in the 3500 block of Rosekemp Ave. in the Moravia-Walther community about 5 p.m. and made the discovery.

"The boy was looking for his father when he entered the bathroom on the second floor and found his father lying in the tub fully clothed and partially submerged in water," Grant said.

The youngster fled back to the home of his caregiver, who then went to Martin's brick duplex. She called police after seeing the body, Grant said.

Martin, who weighed about 250 pounds and was more than 6 feet tall, was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He had been shot in the chest and a shoulder, the sergeant said. Grant said that Martin's hands were bound behind his back and that his feet also were bound.

He added that Martin was last seen alive by his son when the boy left for school about 8 a.m.

Grant said no sign of a struggle was found in the house. "There isn't even a perfume bottle upset in the bathroom," he said.

Martin's body was taken to the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy.

The boy's mother arrived home from her job shortly after the body was discovered and was interviewed by police, Grant said.

Identities of yesterday's other homicide victims were not available.

In the downtown slaying, police said a man was fatally shot after leaving Emineo's, a nightclub in the first block of S. Calvert St., about 2 a.m.

Police said the victim died a short time later at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Witnesses told police the man appeared to have been enjoying himself in the nightclub and had not been involved in any argument before he stepped outside and was shot.

About 3 a.m., a man was shot in the back and neck in the 2500 block of Ashland Ave. He was declared dead at the scene.

Anyone with information about the slayings is urged to call the homicide squad at 410-396-2100.