Police District

Climb the steps and walk past the concrete columns that grace many Baltimore police stations and you'll encounter shuttered glass doors, blocked off by plywood, brown paper or the backs of file cabinets. Somewhere along the way, the public entrances to four of the city's nine district stations became casualties as police outgrew their space, with citizens instead directed to rear doors where officers and handcuffed suspects come and go. That will change in the Northwestern District on Reisterstown Road this week.

Baltimore police are investigating the shootings of two men killed Wednesday night in separate incidents a block apart in Northwest Baltimore. Detectives say Austaniel Brown, 22, who last resided in the 4800 block of Beaufort Ave., was gunned down at a playground near the intersection of Park Heights and West Garrison avenues about 9:30 p.m. Shot in the chest, Brown was transported to a hospital where doctors pronounced him dead about an hour later....

Baltimore police are investigating the shootings of two men killed Wednesday night in separate incidents a block apart in Northwest Baltimore. Detectives say Austaniel Brown, 22, who last resided in the 4800 block of Beaufort Ave., was gunned down at a playground near the intersection of Park Heights and West Garrison avenues about 9:30 p.m. Shot in the chest, Brown was transported to a hospital where doctors pronounced him dead about an hour later....

Baltimore police are investigating two shootings that occurred Wednesday evening in southeast and West Baltimore and left two men in the hospital. Officers first responded at 5:12 p.m. to the 400 block of N. Bouldin St. in the Ellwood Park/Monument neighborhood for a report of a man shot in the back. They found an unidentified 30-year-old man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his back. He was transported to the hospital, where he was listed in critical condition Wednesday evening.

A two-day operation conducted by Baltimore's Northern police district that focused on serving arrest and search warrants has resulted in 33 arrests and the seizure of one gun and a small amount of suspected crack cocaine and marijuana.Operation Border Patrol was conducted in Charles Village, Waverly, Remington, Abell, Greenspring, Strand, Cylburn and Woodberry on Thursday and Friday, said Lt. Michael Tabor. Police focused on crime on the borders of the Northern District -- specifically the borders with the Eastern and Northwestern districts.

COCKEYSVILLE -- A Woodlawn man sought in the rape of a 12-year-old girl Wednesday was arrested yesterday morning, Baltimore County police said.Junior Kevin Austin, 20, of the 3700 block of Clifmar Road was charged in a warrant with second-degree rape and a third-degree sexual offense, police said.Sgt. Kevin B. Novak, a police spokesman, said an acquaintance saw Austin's photo on a news broadcast and told police Austin would be in the 10000 block of Tony Drive in Cockeysville, where he was arrested without incident.

Homicide detectives were called to the scene of an East Baltimore shooting late Saturday, in which police said a man was shot in the head. The shooting around 11 p.m. capped off a day in which the city saw several incidents of gun violence. A man was shot to death just block from Pimlico racetrack in the hours before the Preakness stakes, and three other men were victims of nonfatal shootings. Police have not identified the victims in any of the incidents, and released few details about the latest shooting, which took place in the 900 Block of N. Caroline St. But authorities said two men shot in the leg in separate incidents Saturday afternoon were expected to survive.

A city man was arrested yesterday on charges of critically wounding a cab driver during a carjacking. Police said he also exchanged two shots with a police officer and led police on a chase through the streets of Northeast Baltimore.Kevin S. Jackson, 37, of the 1200 block of North Ave., was charged with two counts of assault with intent to kill. Police said he shot cabbie Norman W. Lennon, 56, of the 9800 block of Tolworth Circle in Randallstown about 2:15 p.m. yesterday.Witnesses told police that a man pulled Mr. Lennon from his cab at 33rd Street and Loch Raven Boulevard.

A sedan being followed by police slammed into an SUV early Tuesday, killing three people in North Baltimore. The fiery scene sparked a frantic rescue effort and a lengthy investigation that shut down a busy intersection for hours. About midnight, bartenders and Chinese carryout employees heard the collision at York Road and Northern Parkway and ran out with fire extinguishers to try to save the occupants. One bar employee helped a man out of a burning car and a neighbor walked him to safety.

He first heard the "wails for help" as he walked out of the police station about 10:30 p.m. Saturday. After jumping in his car, putting down the windows and following the sounds, the detective got closer and heard the sound of "metal hitting an object. " Soon after, Detective Mike Ebaugh of the Prince George's County Police Department allegedly witnessed a man "strike a nearly lifeless man with a shovel to the head," according to police. Ebaugh jumped out of his car, pulled out his handgun and ordered the man to drop the shovel, just as the man was "poised to hit the victim once again," police said.

Baltimore homicide detectives were investigating two killings late Sunday night and a third that occurred Monday, while two other people were reported shot and wounded. The violence continued a recent uptick for the city, with four people killed over the weekend and May concluding with 23 homicides. The previous three months, February, March and April, recorded a total of 30 killings, and for the year police statistics show violent crime remains down nearly 20 percent. Only one of the victims from Sunday night or Monday was identified by police, who did not provide possible motives or detailed accounts of the incidents.

The Matthew A. Henson Neighborhood Association, which represents more than 1,000 homes, business and churches and is over 50 years old, recently unanimously opposed the Baltimore City Council's curfew bill ( "Council approves tough new curfew for city youth," May 12). It is the sincere belief of our residents that passage of this bill will bring about both a discriminatory and arbitrary implementation. While we readily agree that we, as parents, first and foremost, and fellow residents, must significantly improve upon the actions and conduct of our children, the city has not fully and successfully implemented the current curfew.

Homicide detectives were called to the scene of an East Baltimore shooting late Saturday, in which police said a man was shot in the head. The shooting around 11 p.m. capped off a day in which the city saw several incidents of gun violence. A man was shot to death just block from Pimlico racetrack in the hours before the Preakness stakes, and three other men were victims of nonfatal shootings. Police have not identified the victims in any of the incidents, and released few details about the latest shooting, which took place in the 900 Block of N. Caroline St. But authorities said two men shot in the leg in separate incidents Saturday afternoon were expected to survive.

Baltimore Police plan to purchase 300 new computers for their nine police district stations, a long-needed upgrade that officials said will allow officers to work quicker and better use technology to fight crime. The agency did not provide information on how much the upgrades will cost, how the purchase is being funded, or what type of machines it is buying. Since his arrival in 2012, Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts has said repeatedly that the department's equipment is well beyond its expiration date, in some cases more than 20 years old. In a news release, the agency said the older machines "do not have the capability to run modern programs used in law enforcement.

Baltimore police are investigating three overnight shootings that wounded two men and killed a third. At 1:20 a.m., officers responded to reports of a shooting in the 2700 block of E. Monument St. They found a 23-year-old man who had been shot multiple times. The victim was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital where police said he died of his injuries. Homicide detectives have no suspects in the shooting. The homicide was the city's 234 t h murder this year. Less than an hour later, officers were called to an area hospital to investigate a 25-year-old man who had walked in with a gunshot wound to his leg. The victim told investigators he was standing in the 3200 block of W. Baltimore Street when he heard a gunshot and realized he was shot, police said.

Two men were shot in Baltimore Saturday, one in the Northwest police district and the other in the Southern district, police said. The first incident happened in the city's Dolfield neighborhood around 3 a.m. Saturday. Officers went to the 3900 block of Oakford Ave. where they found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, according to police. Officers said the man had been shot in an attempted robbery two blocks away. He was taken to the hospital and police say he was listed in stable but critical condition.

An Ecuadorean national living in Baltimore was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on charges that he raped a 12-year-old girl, the federal agency and city police said. Henry Estrella-Cordova, 31, who is in the country illegally, was taken into custody on Wednesday in Silver Spring at a bus terminal and charged with second-degree rape and related sex offense charges, according to an ICE spokeswoman. The rape was reported May 7 in Baltimore's Southeastern police district and involved a girl who was known to him, city police said.

A sedan being followed by police slammed into an SUV early Tuesday, killing three people in North Baltimore. The fiery scene sparked a frantic rescue effort and a lengthy investigation that shut down a busy intersection for hours. About midnight, bartenders and Chinese carryout employees heard the collision at York Road and Northern Parkway and ran out with fire extinguishers to try to save the occupants. One bar employee helped a man out of a burning car and a neighbor walked him to safety.

Climb the steps and walk past the concrete columns that grace many Baltimore police stations and you'll encounter shuttered glass doors, blocked off by plywood, brown paper or the backs of file cabinets. Somewhere along the way, the public entrances to four of the city's nine district stations became casualties as police outgrew their space, with citizens instead directed to rear doors where officers and handcuffed suspects come and go. That will change in the Northwestern District on Reisterstown Road this week.