Essex

Baltimore County police have identified the woman found dead of a gunshot wound Wednesday in an Essex apartment. Tiffany Lynn Ragle, 30, was lying on the floor of her home, a ground-level apartment in the 900 block of Garden Drive, when officers arrived at 5:28 a.m.. She had been shot multiple times, police said. Police, found no signs of forced entry and have said they have no suspect at this point in their continuing investigation.

An unidentified woman was found fatally shot in an Essex apartment early Wednesday morning, according to Baltimore County police. Officers first responded to an apartment building in the 900 block of Garden Drive about 5:30 a.m. for a report of multiple gunshots in the building, according to Cpl. Cathy Batton, a police spokeswoman. There, they found a woman with multiple gunshot wounds, Batton said. The woman, who was the only person in the apartment when police arrived, was pronounced dead at the scene, Batton said.

Baltimore County police were conducting a man hunt in Essex late Friday after a man headed to jail after a bail hearing at the Essex District Courthouse broke free from the private security officers, "took off running" and escaped custody shortly after 8 p.m., according to police. The unidentified man had been arrested on a charge of attempted felony theft, said Det. Cathy Batton, a police spokeswoman. He had just been before a commissioner in the courthouse in the 8900 block of Kelso Drive, and was outside about to be taken to the Baltimore County Detention Center when he escaped from security officers, Batton said.

An Essex woman was sentenced to life imprisonment Monday for supplying the handgun that was used to kill her brother-in-law, a Towson gas station owner, according to the state's attorney's office. Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Bollinger sentenced Susan M. Datta, 53, for her role in the murder of William "Ray" Porter, who was shot to death at the Hess Gas Station on Joppa Road in Towson on March 1, 2010. Prosecutors say that Porter's wife, Karla Porter, had paid Walter Bishop to kill her husband.

A man found dead in a burning pickup truck in Essex last weekend was a victim of homicide, and Baltimore County Police have a warrant to arrest a county man in the killing, the police said Wednesday. According to a release from the police, Lennell Earl Ellis, 32, of the Rosedale area, is wanted in the death of Daryl Augustus, 21, of Parkville. On Tuesday, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that the death was a homicide caused by laceration of an artery in the thigh. Augustus' body was found by police and firefighters shortly before 7 a.m. Saturday at Mitchell Road near Bay Avenue in a 2005 Dodge Ram pickup that was engulfed in flames.

A man was shot and wounded early Saturday on a street in Essex, according to Baltimore County police. Authorities had few details Saturday morning. Police said the shooting occurred on the street about 2 a.m. in the 1000 block of Mace Ave., just south of Route 702, also known as the Southeast Freeway. The area is residential, with a mix of single family homes and apartments. Police could not immediately provide an age of the victim or say where or how many times had been shot.

Two men confronted another man in an Essex barbershop Wednesday afternoon and shot him, police said. Baltimore County police responded at 2:34 p.m. to the business in the 600 block of S. Marlyn Ave., near Homberg Street and Deep Creek. A 39-year-old man had been injured and he has been taken to an area hospital for treatment. His injuries were not life threatening. The motive for the shooting is still under investigation, police said. Police placed schools in the area on alert status as a precautionary measure.

A 36-game losing streak dating to 2005, including an 0-12 season in 2011, had the sophomores on the CCBC-Essex women's lacrosse team considering calling it quits this year. "Last year we didn't win any games," said sophomore midfielder Paige Orpin (Perry Hall Christian). "I think only maybe two of them were close. I wasn't sure if I wanted to play anymore. " Sophomore attacker Alexandra Breslin-Spinnato (Eastern Tech) was similarly frustrated. "It was really hard," she said.

A monthly Storytime at Essex Library includes all the trappings familiar to its pre-school participants — books, puppets, songs, games and a crafts table. But this program, organized by Spanish language students at a nearby high school, gives children the chance to listen, sing and play in two languages. "Welcome to la granja, amigos," said Chesapeake High School sophomore Amanda Ambrose, who donned a straw hat and jeans in keeping with farm theme of the hour. During the bilingual story hour, the hosts switch back and forth from English to Spanish as they read to and entertain the children.

Baltimore County fire officials battled an early-morning boat blaze that spread to the dock of the Essex Marina on Sunday, a department spokesman said. Officials responded to the marina after receiving a call around 3:37 a.m. from neighboring residents who reported an "explosion" and a "loud pop" at the marina, the spokesman said. When officials arrived, the boat was fully engulfed in flames and the dock was also on fire, according to the spokesman, who said officials used foam to extinguish the blaze.