Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

Just before 14:00, I heard a loud sound halfway between a pop and a bang. It could have been a backfire, it could have been a firecracker. After a pause, I heard five more. And something about the timing told me they weren't firecrackers. I turned on the cell phone while heading upstairs; it had connected to the network by the time I got to the window and saw someone lying crumpled in the street next to the curb, so I dialed 911. A moment later I saw someone else standing over the victim with a cell phone, apparently doing the same thing.

The first ambulance and a fire truck (a fire truck?) arrived very quickly. The police arrived after I started typing this (along with a second ambulance -- I hadn't seen a second victim, but perhaps they were around the corner). I saw the victim move, and they loaded him onto a stretcher, so with any luck this won't bump up the murder counter for 2006 (there were three murders in Baltimore yesterday).

While I was calling and then watching, the intersection went from its normal empty-of-pedestrians state to looking like there's an actual neighbourhood here, most of whom had come out to stare with worried looks on their faces. (It's a major spot for automobile traffic, but foot traffic is sparse except at certain hours.)

The numbers for the city as a whole sound pretty scary, but as frightened as some folks are by the appearance of my neighbourhood, the violence usually doesn't happen this close to me.

I'm not sure I can quite understand what brings a person to shoot another person at a busy intersection in the middle of a Monday afternoon. I have enough trouble understanding what makes somebody shoot somebody else in the first place. I hope the shooter is caught.

[Added 14:38] The street is quiet now, empty of civilians and with no flashing lights, though a couple of police cruisers are parked opposite my house. The police are in the middle of ringing each doorbell in turn to ask folks what we heard. I asked the officer how it was going, and he said the victim wasn't willing to say much to them and they had no clues yet. Yellow police tape is strung across the street from front-stair-railing to front-stair-railing a few doors from the intersection in all directions (well, at least the three I can see -- I'm guessing at the fourth), and my car is roped in. Lombard is blocked at the far end of the block by a police cruiser, so I'm guessing Fulton is probably likewise at Pratt. A knot of officers and a detective stand in the middle of the intersection talking to each other and occasionally pointing. The overall "vibe" is so ... calm. No sign of news cameras, but I don't know whether it's because this is a "so what" part of town for the newsies, or because the victim is still alive.

[Added 15:09] I see what might be a news truck parked on Lombard a block away (just the other side of Mount). The antenna mast has not been raised, so I'm not sure, but maybe I can tell after I grab a telephoto lens.