A 20-year-old woman was raped and shot in the head in west Baltimore over the weekend, but was coherent enough to talk to detectives about what happened to her.
Police say the brutal crime happened in an alley in the 1500 block of North Carey Street on Saturday.
That is what had detectives, officers and some west Baltimore residents handing out fliers with information and trying to collect tips on Monday morning.
"We need to find the despicable human being who is responsible for violating this woman this past weekend. He essentially left her for dead but she is fighting," TJ Smith, with the Baltimore Police Department, said.
The 20-year-old woman is fighting as she gets treatment at Shock Trauma. Police said she was walking when she passed by a man walking the other way.
She told them he turned around to follow her, stuck a gun in her back, raped her and shot her in the head.
Police said the attacker wore a mask, but the victim could see that he is a black male with a light complexion.
"I didn't hear anything so I don't know who would do something like that but it's unreal, they need to be caught," one neighbor told us.
We spoke to another neighbor, a woman who did not want to be on camera but told us she knows the 20 year old victim well.
"It's so sad that you can't walk in your own neighborhood. She's a grown woman, there should not be a time you can't walk in your neighborhood," she told ABC2.
Baltimore Police said the investigation started with the victim who was able to talk to detectives despite the gunshot wound to the head.
"At this point it looks like she's going to survive but with that being said, we need to seek justice for her and find out who this person is to make sure he doesn't victimize any other women in this community," Smith said.
Police said the suspect may have already done that. Detectives are looking into past cases with a similar M.O., a man targeting young women who are traveling alone.
"We believe this person who is responsible for this could be responsible for another act of sexual assault that has occurred in this community over the past couple of years. ... It looks like some of the targets appear to be young women that appear to be traveling alone so we want people in this area to be on alert to make sure they walk with someone when they can. Try to stay in well lit areas. Try to stay out of areas that are darker whether it be an alley or what have you. Make sure people know where you're going and who you're with," Smith said.
If you think you can help identify this suspect, call detectives at 410-396-2076, or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-LOCKUP.
