Baltimore’s 2017 Murder Rate Surpasses 100 Mark Before End Of April

Baltimore officials recorded the 101st homicide this year on Monday, marking the first time since 1998 that the city reached that grim milestone before the end of April, ABC News reports.

The 2017 murder rate is 34 percent higher than the same time last year, according the Baltimore Sun.

“We have to engage this community or it’s going to continue to be a bloodbath,” the Rev. Donte Hickman, pastor of the Southern Baptist Church, told the Sun.

A surge of violence began after the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in police custody, which sparked riots in the city.

“We’re continuing to do everything we can to impact that number so it doesn’t continue to grow,” a Baltimore Police Department spokesman told The Sun.

SOURCE:  ABC News, Associated Press, Baltimore Sun

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Baltimore’s 2017 Murder Rate Surpasses 100 Before End Of April was originally published on newsone.com