The fatal shooting Monday morning of a 48-year-old man in Northwest Baltimore was the sixth killing in as many days, pushing the city's homicide count to its highest level in four years.
Police said the unidentified man was shot in the chest at about 11:30 a.m. in the 5200 block of Beaufort Ave. near Pimlico Race Course. Detectives and crime scene technicians were focused on an area behind a vacant home in the block.
The killing, which came on the heels of a weekend that saw three homicides and a quadruple shooting at an East Baltimore barber shop, brought the number of victims this year to 224.
The youngest of the weekend's victims was 20-year-old Sirreal Scott, who was shot Friday afternoon in the 2200 block of Liberty Heights Ave. in a residential area between Mondawmin Mall and Druid Hill Park.
His parents, who said his name is a combination of the words "sir" and "real," said they didn't know why someone would kill their son. They described him as funny and well-mannered, and said he leaves behind a 5-month-old son.
"I'm honestly just grateful that God entrusted me to be his mother for the 20 years he was on this Earth," said Linda Scott, 40.
She said that the city is overcome with "pain, anger and frustration" and that she has been working on starting a mentoring program.
"We pray that this will stop, that people will become more aware that a life is precious and violence is not the way," said stepfather Charles Washington, 57, who said he had raised Sirreal since birth.
Police also identified two other recent homicide victims:
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Officers found Anthony Levar Joyner in the 200 block of Beale Court on Sunday night suffering a gunshot wound to his head, according to police. He died in the hospital — on his 34th birthday.
The shooting occurred in the Douglass Homes housing project across from Johns Hopkins Hospital, and came a day after a man was fatally shot in the nearby 200 block of Aisquith St. That victim has not been publicly identified.
Police also identified Devante Barnes, 21, as the man found Thursday morning in an alley in the 4500 block of Fernhill Ave. Barnes had suffered some kind of trauma to his head, police said, and an autopsy determined he had been shot.
All of the cases were unsolved as of late Monday. Police asked anyone with information to call 410-396-2100.
Baltimore Sun reporter Ian Duncan contributed to this article.
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