Baltimore City recorded its first homicide this year when a man was fatally shot Sunday afternoon near Druid Hill Park, said a city police department spokesman. The victim's name was withheld pending notification of family members, said Detective Donny Moses, the spokesman. No arrest had been made.

Shortly after 3 p.m., Northwestern District police and the crew of a city Fire Department ambulance responded to an alley in the 2300 block of Ocala Ave., about two blocks west of the park, for a report of a shooting, Moses said. There, police found the victim bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds to the body and was pronounced dead at the scene by medics.

Moses said witnesses told police they saw two unidentified men running from the scene. Metro Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest and an indictment in the slaying.

Last year, there were 238 homicides in the city, compared to 234 in 2008, police said.

According to a published report, nine people were slain in the city during the first five days of 2009, seven of them under the age of 22, according to police.