Charges are pending against the suspect, Bealefeld said, adding that he will likely be charged with two counts of domestic assault and two counts of attempted murder.
Richard P. Dutton, the senior administrative physician at Shock Trauma, said the officer shot in the torso needed hours of surgery for his wounds.
Both officers were wearing protective vests.
"The way these police officers reacted says a lot," Bealefeld said, "acting in the face of a hail of gunfire, that they could still do what they did to make the people of this city safe."
When a reporter asked Bealefeld about the suspect's condition, the commissioner said, "I have very few apologies to make about his condition."
Dozens of police officers responded to the shootings. Patrol cars lined Edmondson Avenue and police used yellow crime tape to block off a number of streets in the area, forcing motorists into detours.
Neighbors and passers-by huddled on the corners, trying to see what investigators were doing inside the barricades.
Frederica Davis and her sister, September, were setting up jewelry to sell on their Edmondson Avenue porch Saturday morning when they heard gunfire. They were about a block away from the scene.
"I just heard shots and I dropped down," Frederica Davis said, adding that she saw people running. "It was just bam, bam, bam, and then another round, bam, bam, bam."
Davis said she knew the suspect and called him a "pretty good guy."
But, she added, "A gun is not the answer. When is they gonna realize that?"
Bealefeld said officers believe the woman at the first house was the suspect's former girlfriend, and the other woman his current partner.
"He has a pretty extensive arrest history," Bealefeld said. "We know he's been involved in other domestic violence incidents."
Mayor Sheila Dixon, who was in New York on Saturday, issued a statement about the incident on her way back to the city.
"Today's incident is a tragic reminder that we must rid our city of illegal guns. I thank God that our two brave police officers are in stable condition and encourage everyone to pray for their speedy recovery," she said. "I am horrified that anything of this magnitude has happened to officers providing for the safety of this city. Their heroic actions today saved countless citizens from further harm."
It has been months since an officer was shot in the line of duty in Baltimore.
