A man driving in a funeral procession was shot and killed in Baltimore on Saturday. Officers on routine patrol heard the gunfire and responded to the scene in the city’s Penrose neighborhood.
First responders rushed the man to a local hospital, where he was tragically pronounced dead. Based on their initial investigation , several suspects approached the victim in his car in West Baltimore, opened fire, and then fled the area, according to Detective Jeremy Silbert, the Baltimore Sun reported.
CBS Baltimore and other news outlets identified the victim as Dannta Holmes, 39. The suspects are apparently still at large, and homicide detectives are requesting the public’s help in the investigation, which is still unfolding.
So far in 2018, Baltimore has experienced 47 murders. Last year, there were a total of 324 homicides, the third consecutive year of 300-or-more fatal crime incidents. Against this backdrop, Baltimore’s mayor appointed a new police commissioner in January. Based on crime data, Baltimore is the most dangerous city in America and has the second highest murder rate of any major U.S. city, just behind Chicago, USA Today claimed.
Last night, the Maryland state senate passed a crime bill that incorporated many, but not all, of Gov. Larry Hogan’s proposals to address street violence. Among other provisions, it would increase maximum prison sentences for repeat gun offenders. The package does not include Hogan’s call for higher mandatory minimum sentences generally, although reportedly it does raise the penalty for a second gun-related crime conviction from 20 to 40 years behind bars, CBS Baltimore noted. Hogan urged the Maryland house to pass the bill and vowed to sign it once the legislation reaches his desk.
Man killed on N. Monroe Street was in funeral procession at time of shooting. https://t.co/GPdlCZMstR
— FOX Baltimore (@FOXBaltimore) March 12, 2018
Last night, a total of eight persons comprised of four men, two women, and two male teens were wounded in four different Baltimore shootings, the Baltimore Sun separately reported.
The Baltimore Business Journal detailed last week that several communities in the city have resorted to hiring private security because of the surging street crime rate in Baltimore that includes muggings, robberies, and other physical assaults. Crime concerns may also be having an effect on tourism in the downtown area, including the popular Inner Harbor.
As the fatal shooting of the Baltimore man while driving in a funeral procession is a developing story, please check back for updates.
