Baltimore sees most January homicides in more than a decade

BALTIMORE (AP) - The city of Baltimore recorded more homicides last month than in any other January in more than a decade.

The Baltimore Sun reports (https://bsun.md/2lcfUqO ) the city saw 32 homicides in the first 31 days of 2017. That’s the most in any January since 2005, when there were also 32.

According to the newspaper, the only year in which records show more killings in January was 1973, when there were 35.

The homicide rate in Baltimore began to skyrocket after the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man whose neck was broken in the back of a police transport van. His death sparked protests and rioting across the city, and after six officers were charged, the homicide rate began to climb.