12 Shot, Five Dead, in Single Day of Shootings in Baltimore

Baltimore (US), Jan 13 (AP) Authorities say 12 people were shot, five of them fatally, in eight separate weekend shootings in Baltimore.

The first of Saturday's shootings was reported at about 2:30 a.m. and involved three female victims, all found with apparent gunshot wounds in a car in a northeastern section of the city. One victim, a 28-year-old woman, died shortly after arriving at a hospital.

A few hours later, police responding to a shooting in southeast Baltimore found a 46-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the leg. Then, a second shooting victim, a 40-year-old man, walked into a hospital seeking treatment for a gunshot wound to his leg.

Shortly after 2:30 p.m. Saturday, police found a man fatally shot in southeast Baltimore. That was followed less than half an hour later by a shooting in central Baltimore that left a 37-year-old man wounded.

A 38-year-old man was found with a gunshot wound around 7 p.m. Saturday in northeast Baltimore.

A shooting in southwest Baltimore about an hour later left one man wounded and another dead. More gunfire a few minutes later in northeast Baltimore left a 37-year-old man fatally wounded.

Saturday's violence ended shortly before 11 p.m., when officers found a 24-year-old man fatally wounded in northwest Baltimore.

The city recorded 348 homicides last year, its fifth consecutive year with more than 300 murders and the most violent year ever on a per-capita basis.

City council president Brandon Scott, a Democrat running for mayor, issued a statement Sunday condemning the violence.

"A day that should have been met with pride and community was once again flooded with violence and loss," Scott wrote, an apparent reference to an NFL divisional playoff game hosted by the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night.

"This violence is heartbreaking and must stop now," added Scott, who said he plans to question Baltimore's police commissioner and other agency heads about what they were doing in the affected communities before and after the shootings. (AP)

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