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A 13-year-old girl was shot to death near a West Baltimore recreation center on Thursday night, police said, extending a week of violence that has seen nine people killed since last Friday, including a 69-year-old woman and 5-year-old girl.
Baltimore Police arrived at the 1300 block of N. Stricker St. around 7:04 p.m. after reports of a shooting and found a 13-year-old girl suffering from gunshot wounds. Police said they took the girl to Shock Trauma, where she died a short time later.
Baltimore City Councilman James Torrence, whose District 7 encompasses the place the girl was gunned down, described the shooting outside the Lillian Jones Recreation Center as “senseless gun violence.” He said in a tweet Friday morning that grief counselors would be at the recreation center throughout the Friday.
“I am heartbroken because our children’s safe haven should not be a place of violence,” Torrence said. “My prayers and thoughts are with her family and community.”
The girl was the 302nd homicide victim in Baltimore so far this year, as the city surpassed 300 homicides for the seventh straight year.
“We must grieve her loss and ensure accountability,” Torrence said in the tweet, encouraging residents to call police with information about the girl’s killing.
Homicide detectives are asking for anyone with information about the shooting to call detectives at (410) 396-2100 or call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7lockup.
[ Baltimore homicides interactive map ]
Earlier Thursday, a 40-year-old man was shot and killed in East Baltimore, police said. At about 3:50 a.m. police responded to the 2100 block of Aiken St. in Baltimore’s Midway neighborhood after receiving an alert from the ShotSpotter gunfire detection system.
There, they found the man suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
Later Thursday night, police say, a man was found shot in the city’s Easterwood neighborhood.
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The department wrote in a news release that Western District officers responding to a report of a shooting in the 1000 block of N. Appleton St. at around 6:22 p.m. found a 38-year-old man who’d been shot in the area.
The man was taken to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, which are considered not to be life-threatening, the department wrote.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call 410-396-2477.
Baltimore officials have been reeling from a series of deaths. On Wednesday, police announced that they were calling the death of Nivea Anderson, 5, a homicide after she was found unresponsive Monday night at a home in the 2800 block of Pelham Ave. in the Belair-Edison neighborhood in Northeast Baltimore. Officers and medical personnel were unable to revive her, and a police news release said there was evidence the little girl had suffered previous abuse.
On Tuesday, 69-year-old Evelyn Evelyn Player was found slain Tuesday inside the Southern Baptist Church on North Chester Street, where she was a member, and also worked as a sexton.
Baltimore Sun reporter Alex Mann contributed to this article.