BALTIMORE _ Six people were killed and at least two others wounded in separate shootings in Baltimore Monday night and early Tuesday morning, prompting Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis to announce a weeklong deployment initiative to put more officers on the street.
Effective immediately, all patrol officers and detectives will be required to work 12-hour shifts, rather than their standard 10-hour shifts, and every sworn officer in the department capable of being deployed will be deployed, Davis said.
Davis called the latest spate of violence _ in a record-setting year for it _ "unconscionable," and said he joined community members in being "pissed off" about it.
"We're just as angry and frustrated and ticked off about it as anyone else watching, and I expect people to be upset," Davis said. "I expect people to want a better Baltimore, to want a sense of peace and tranquility that when they leave their home or go to their car or go to the store or go to work or walk in the neighborhood that they don't have to put up with this crap.
"We get that and we understand that and we're going to keep fighting our way through this," he said. "There is nowhere for us to run. There's nowhere for us to hide. We are responsible for public safety in the city of Baltimore, and we're going to keep working our hearts out until we get to a safer and better place. You can trust me on that."
Davis said he was in "constant contact" with Mayor Catherine Pugh about the violence. He said the enhanced deployments, similar to those seen during past spikes in violence in the city, would be effective through this weekend, at which point he and his top commanders would review the strategy.
Police could not immediately provide a cost for the deployments. The department already struggles with overspending on overtime _ in the tens of millions of dollars every year _ and has said it does not have enough officers to fill patrol shifts.
The overnight killings included a quadruple shooting that killed two in East Baltimore, the death of a male victim found bleeding from the head near the Canton waterfront, and three separate fatal shootings in Southwest Baltimore, police said.
The city is experiencing a record level of violence. Including the six killings overnight, there have been 159 homicides in 2017.
The first victim was found around 8:20 p.m. in the Edmondson Village neighborhood. He was taken to University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he died. Police said they did not know his identity.
About 10:35 p.m. Monday, officers found 37-year-old Charmane Wilson with gunshot wounds in Southwest Baltimore. Wilson was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Officers had responded to the same block about an hour before for a report of a common assault, police said. The shooting occurred as they were investigating that incident, they said. Wilson lived on the block.
Also about 10:35 p.m., officers located 28-year-old Rodney Wheatley with gunshot wounds to the back and arm on the block where he lived. He was transported to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he died.
Police said Wheatley had been arguing with a suspect before being shot, and that a "person of interest" in the shooting has been identified.
About 2:45 a.m. Tuesday, officers responded to a report of an injured person in Canton and found a male victim shot and bleeding from the forehead, police said. The victim was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
About 3:30 a.m., officers located four shooting victims in the East Baltimore Midway neighborhood of East Baltimore, police said. All of the victims were transported to a local hospital.
A 26-year-old man and a female victim were both pronounced dead, police said.
A 24-year-old man is listed in critical condition, police said, while another male victim was treated and released.
