Warm weather brings violent 3 days in Baltimore

BALTIMORE, Md. (WBFF) -- Baltimore City remains a City In Crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic after a violent three days left 5 people dead and seven others shot.

Monday alone there were three separate day time shooting, one of them leaving a man dead in Highlandtown.

"This world, it's like people just don't care," Baltimore resident Pamela Harvey said. "It's bad enough that we can die from this virus, then you're going to go around and kill each other?"

Even amid a state of emergency and social distancing violent crime has continued to impact every sector of the city. Experts believe the recent warm weather may be playing a factor as well.

"We're entering that time of year," Jason Johnson, a former Baltimore Police Deputy Commissioner said. "Add on top of that all the complications with COVID-19 and some degree of frustration."

Since the pandemic began, Baltimore Police have said some crimes are down. Year to year, homicides are currently down about 8%.

"We've seen a decrease, a sharp decrease in property crime," Commissioner Michael Harrison said at a recent media briefing. "We've also seen a slight decrease in violent crime as well."

But the longer the pandemic persists, experts warn those decreases may not last, especially as the economic impact of the virus takes a deep toll on local communities.

"There's going to be high unemployment in Baltimore and elsewhere for the foreseeable future," Johnson said. "We know from our experience that it tends to increase crime of all kinds and that could potentially be a difficult mixture for police."