Amid police turmoil, Baltimore reaches 300 homicides again

BALTIMORE (AP) — The city of Baltimore has recorded 300 homicides for the fourth straight year, as its troubled police department awaits a permanent commissioner.

News outlets report the city’s 300th homicide was recorded shortly before midnight Wednesday, when a 30-year-old man was fatally shot in the face and upper body.

Before 2015, Baltimore hadn’t reached 300 homicides in a single year since 1999. The Baltimore Sun reports the 1990s were the city’s deadliest decade by body count, but saw a lower death rate, as there were 100,000 more residents then.

Last year, the city reached the 300th mark by Nov. 2 and recorded 342 homicides in total, a per capita record.

Baltimore police have been roiled by scandal and leadership turnover, with the department’s top post changing hands three times this year.