[Baltimore Sun via Zero Hedge] The evolution of the Baltimore City murder crisis is now pushing out into Baltimore County, according to a new report from The Baltimore Sun.About 50 homicides were recorded in 2019, surpassing the previous high of 42, set during the crack epidemic of the early 1990s, according to FBI statistics. On a yearly change, homicides in the county are up 85%.
Baltimore County homicides usually fluctuate in the low 20s. It wasn't until the 2015 Baltimore City Riots when homicides in the county have jumped ever since.
The Sun also cited police data that recorded 54 nonfatal shootings in the county in 2019 and 56 in 2018.
There was even a mass stabbing in late September at a luxurious shopping center in Hunt Valley, where four people were randomly stabbed, and police eventually killed the attacker.
The primary reason for the explosion in homicides and violent crime in the county is due in part to the murder crisis in the city. Violent crime is being pushed out and is now spilling over in the communities five to ten miles from city limits.
Baltimore City ended 2019 with record homicides, recorded 348 deaths, and a per capita homicide rate of 57 per 100,000 ‐ one of the highest in the US.
"Any homicide is completely unacceptable to me and I'm devastated for every single family that lost a loved one to a murder in Baltimore County this past year," Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. said Thursday, citing domestic violence and drug-related crimes contributed to the wave of deaths in 2019.