A man and a woman were found dead Thursday in a sport utility vehicle in the parking lot of a popular Canton shopping center in what police suspect is a murder-suicide.
Officers were called to Canton Crossing, the 2-year-old shopping complex in the 3600 block of Boston St., around noon for a report of a shooting, police said. When officers arrived, they found two shooting victims inside a parked SUV. They were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Police spokesman Detective Jeremy Silbert said the pair, who appeared to be in their 20s, died in what detectives suspected was a murder-suicide. The vehicle was parked next to a branch of TD Bank. White sheets covered the rear driver's-side door of the dark SUV and the front passenger door, hiding the bodies inside as shoppers and lunch-goers stood outside yellow crime tape staring in shock.
"This is the first time in five or six years that I've ever seen anything like that," said Elmer Martinez, who lives about 10 blocks away. "Kind of sad for humans to make this kind of decision."
City Councilman Jim Kraft, whose district includes the shopping center, said on his Facebook page that police informed him the incident appeared to be a domestic incident.
"The shooting occurred within the automobile. This was not a random act," he wrote.
If one of the dead includes a homicide victim, Baltimore has experienced 64 killings this year, 10 more than at this time last year.
Baltimore Sun reporters Sean Welsh and Scott Dance contributed to this article.
Twitter.com/justingeorge