A three hour stretch Wednesday night left three people dead in four separate shootings in Baltimore, though police don't believe any of the shootings are connected.
They're working to find suspects in the shootings.
Police are working to get ahead of what many believe could be a violent summer. As of Thursday afternoon, the city sat at 103 homicides for the year.
A 17-year-old boy was shot in the back and legs in the 600 block of Cherry Hill Road. He remained in the hospital fighting for his life Thursday afternoon, police said.
"It's a sad sight to see because he's still young," said Xzabeia Taylor, who works as a cook at a lunch counter at a nearby shopping center.
Taylor said he would see the boy often. The boy was shot just before 9 p.m. Wednesday in an area Taylor said kids also fall victim to lack of opportunity.
"They see the things, the vision, but they don't have the mindset to actually go out there and get it," Taylor said.
A man was killed inside a home in the 1200 block of N. Carey Street in Sandtown-Winchester just before 6 p.m in one shooting, and at 8 p.m., a 24-year-old man died at the hospital after being shot near the Old Town Mall, police said.
A little more than an hour later, at about 9:15 p.m., a 29-year-old man sitting on a stoop was killed when a black vehicle pulled up in a drive-by shooting in the 2400 block of Frederick Avenue, police said.
"Last night was definitely a very challenging night in the city," said Lt. Jarron Jackson, a spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department. "This is definitely an all-hands-on-deck situation. Our commanders are on the ground leading the troops. We're re-evaluating our deployment strategies."
The city's homicide tally for the month of May sat at 13 deaths before the violent stretch, police said, which was less than the total of 41 seen by the end of May last year.
But they said they were still unhappy with the shootings.
"The other piece with that is working with the community," Jackson said.
Taylor said the summer may be spent indoors.
"You can sit on the porch and chill with some friends, but that's probably not safe," he said.
Follow Dakarai Turner on Twitter @Dakarai_Turner.
