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Pregnant woman, 90-year-old among those shot in weekend violence

Posted at 11:24 AM, Apr 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-18 05:44:05-04

It would actually be easier to show which part of the city did not have a shooting this holiday weekend.

The northern and southwestern districts were spared but a litany of shootings pock marked just about everywhere else; a frequency and ubiquity the mayor addressed this morning.

"I can't say enough about how we must care about each other but this gun violence, whether it is in home or on our streets of this city is just out of control," said Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh.

From robberies to domestic violence, the victims run the gamut including a woman who was just more than five months pregnant.

Shahidah Barnes was shot Sunday, killing the mother-to-be and her unborn child.

Police say it was her husband, Deron Deandre Barnes who shot his wife at a home in northeast Baltimore then drove and dumped her body near St Agnes hospital in southwest.

Police say after admitting he killed his wife to family members, Barnes was later found dead himself just over the city line along Baltimore National Pike.

While Baltimore County Police investigate his death, the medical examiner is left to determine just how many lives he took.

"Right now the medical examiner will make the determination if that child was viable outside the womb. So at this point we are dealing with a single murder situation," said Baltimore Police Chief T. J. Smith.

The other shooting that halted Easter weekend was a double on Harlem Avenue.

There a 90-year-old was one of the victims.

She will survive but covers the other side of the outrage spectrum, a wide scope of violence that has city leaders today trying to find answers

"I can’t do this by myself,” the mayor said, “The police department can’t do this by itself. It is really going to take more community engagement and so we are continuing to reach out but we also may need some additional help to do it."