West Baltimore

Last September, Van Brooks walked for the first time in eight years. A wobbly video, recorded on a smartphone and posted on Facebook, shows the lower body of an undeterrable young man. Legs violently shaking as he refuses to accept his initial diagnosis, Brooks clings to a walker while his weight is supported by a harness attached to the ceiling. Wearing white tube socks and a pair of Converse All Stars, Brooks slowly takes a small step forward. His left foot quivers as he strains to straighten it and complete the step.

A man was in critical condition Friday night after he was shot in the head in the Waverly neighborhood of Baltimore, police said. The shooting occurred in the 3600 block of Old York Road, police spokesman Det. Vernon Davis said. The man, whose identity was not released, was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. City homicide detectives were investigating. Police were also investigating the shooting of a man in the Harlem Park neighborhood of West Baltimore. The shooting occurred in the 900 block of North Mount Street, Davis said.

Baltimore detectives have taken two men into custody they suspect were involved in a double shooting Monday night that left one man dead, police said Tuesday. The men, whom police did not name, are being held in connection with the death of a 34-year-old man who was shot in a house in the 1900 block of Bentalou St. in West Baltimore. An 11-year-old boy who was also shot is expected to survive, police said. The boy, who suffered a wound in the lower half of his body, ran two blocks to summon officers who were on foot patrol nearby.

Managers of West Baltimore's historic Lexington Market are looking for a consultant to help them plan a multimillion-dollar renovation to transform the market into a regional draw. Lexington Market released the call for consulting services on Monday and expects to pick a firm by September. The 231-year-old market wants a face lift that will make it into a "food destination" attracting a "broad mix" of customers, according to the request for consulting services. Owners want the renovation to make the market better looking inside and out, improve the flow of customers in the building, and for the consultants to give recommendations on whether to promote things like healthy eating.

A man and an 11-year-old boy were shot inside a house in West Baltimore on Monday night, police said. The boy is expected to survive his injuries, but homicide detectives were called to the scene because of the severity of the man's gunshot wounds. Detective Jeremy Silbert, a Baltimore police spokesman, said officers believe the two were shot in a house in the 1900 block of Bentalou Street, then the boy ran two blocks to the 2100 block of North Avenue, where officers were on foot patrol.

City detectives are investigating two overnight shootings that left one man dead in Oliver and another man wounded in Upton, the Baltimore Police Department said. About 11:46 p.m. Thursday, officers were dispatched to the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Pitcher Street in Upton for a report of a shooting and found a man wounded at the scene. The location, west of Maryland General Hospital, is in the police department's Central District but is not far from some of West Baltimore's most violent neighborhoods this year.

A man died in a shooting reported in Southwest Baltimore about 4 a.m. Thursday, city police said. Officers were called to the 1300 block of Carroll Street in the Washington Village/Pigtown neighborhood, where they found a black man with a gunshot wound to the chest. Homicide detectives are investigating. The victim was taken to an area hospital, where he died, police said. No other information was immediately available. The shooting death is the first police have reported in the city in more than a week, after two shootings in West Baltimore left two women and two men dead March 19. A man and woman were shot while driving a pickup truck in West Baltimore on Monday but were expected to survive.

When “12 O'Clock Boys” director Lotfy Nathan brought his film to this month's South by Southwest film festival, one of his main goals was to find distribution for the documentary. Nathan didn't have to wait long, as deadline.com reported this week that Oscilloscope Laboratories had purchased the North American rights to Nathan's documentary on the West Baltimore dirt-bike riders. Oscilloscope, which was co-founded by deceased Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch, is considered a boutique film company.

A man and a woman were shot while driving in the Edgewood neighborhood of West Baltimore on Monday evening, police said. They are expected to survive. Police said both were in a pickup truck the man was driving in the 700 block of Linnard Street at about 6:30 p.m. when an unknown suspect fired at the truck, hitting the vehicle multiple times. The 27-year-old female passenger was struck in the right shoulder while the male driver suffered lacerations to his right cheek and right forearm from broken glass from the passenger door window, police said.

A Baltimore man has been charged with impersonating a police officer after he allegedly placed a victim in handcuffs and robbed him of $75, claiming the money smelled like cocaine. Baltimore police said the victim, 21, was walking down the 1000 block of Poplar Grove Street in West Baltimore on Wednesday at about 2:45 p.m. when Jermaul Dean, 23, approached him with a badge and handcuffs. Dean said he was a police officer and ordered the victim to put his hands on his head and started patting him down, according to the police report.