City Police

Baltimore police were investigating two deaths preliminarily considered "questionable," in South and Northwest Baltimore, officials said. The first occurred at about 1 a.m., when officers on patrol outside the Paradox nightclub south of M&T Bank Stadium saw a 25-year-old woman lying on the sidewalk unresponsive as security personnel from the club performed CPR. She was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center where she was pronounced dead at about...

City police released surveillance camera stills that they believe show two suspects involved in the Dec. 14 robbery-shooting of a Northeast Baltimore barber shop employee.  The victim, who was listed in critical condition, is expected to survive, but lost his eye in surgery and also suffered an injury to one of his hands. The shooting occurred in the 2200 block of Harford Road, at the Up Close barber shop. "We're looking for anyone that might have been in the area," Guglielmi said.

Baltimore City police are investigating a fatal shooting in the 200 block of N. Smallwood St. overnight. Police said officers arrived at Bon Secours Hospital at 12:48 a.m. Sunday after they received a report of a shooting. They found Dayon Barnes, 27, receiving treatment for multiple gunshot wounds, police said. Due to the severity of his injuries, Barnes was transferred to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he died at 1:48 a.m., police said. Detectives believe that Barnes was sitting in a car in the 200 block of N. Smallwood St., in the Penrose/Fayette Street Outreach area, when he was shot.

City police were investigating at least two shootings Monday evening, in the Barclay and Druid Heights neighborhoods.  Details weren't immediately available. The first incident was reported at 5:40 p.m. in the 2200 block of Guilford Ave., in the Barclay neighborhood just north of city schools headquarters.  At the scene, the shooting appeared to have occurred inside a home. Children played basketball on a nearby court, and bicyclists diverted their paths around the crime scene.

City police on Sunday reported five shootings over the weekend, two of them fatal. At about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, officers responding to a call about shots fired in the 500 block of Coventry Road in Southwest Baltimore found a man with gunshot wounds, police said. He was pronounced dead at an area hospital, police said. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call homicide detectives at 410-396-2100. About 9:40 p.m. Sunday, a man was shot in the 1300 block of North Spring Street, police said.

A Baltimore police officer who said in an interview that he had received no counseling after he shot and killed two people nine months apart in 2006 and 2007 has been suspended from the force, and stripped of his gun and badge. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the eight-year veteran, Andrew W. Gotwols Jr., made comments that concerned commanders about his fitness to serve. He described the 36-year-old as being "medically suspended. " Gotwols told The Baltimore Sun that he has nightmares that "guys are trying to shoot and kill me, and that I'm trying to shoot and kill them.

John Ellis "Bo" Blackwell, one of the first African-Americans to be appointed to the Baltimore Police Department, who overcame racism and enjoyed a 30-year career with the department, died Oct. 30 of respiratory failure at Sinai Hospital. The Ellicott City resident was 83. "John was a pioneering African-American officer and he kept us focused. We stand on his shoulders," said Edward V. Woods, who served as police commissioner from 1989 to 1993. "Thank God for people like John who always gave his all. We are a better community for it and the department is now a healthy and representative mixture of people," said Mr. Woods.

Regarding your report that Baltimore needs an outside consultant to advise its police department, my question is: Really? ("Baltimore police seek an outside consultant," Jan. 18). Does Baltimore really need to pay yet another consultant to advise the department about how to execute its mission? Isn't that city Police Commissioner Anthony Batts' job? When interviewed for the commissioner's post, didn't the interviewers ask him what strategies he had in mind to reduce crime in Baltimore?

A Baltimore police sergeant who claimed he was never treated for post-traumatic stress disorder after he fatally shot a man in 2005 has settled a lawsuit against the city, in a deal that allows him to retire with his pension, according to court documents and his attorney. Under terms of the settlement, Richard A. Willard, 45, dropped the federal suit and a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the Police Department canceled an administrative hearing that could have led to his termination.

Police are investigating the discovery of a body found in the woods in Middle Branch Park in South Baltimore. A man's body was found in a wooded area off a trail at about 11:30 a.m., police said. The man appeared to have suffered trauma, and the body will be transported to the medical examiner for further investigation. At the scene, overlooking the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River, officers could be seen talking with a group of young people, with an officer walking one person out of the woods.