Baltimore Records Its Deadliest Month In More Than 40 Years

With three men killed in eastside shootings on Sunday, Baltimore recorded its deadliest month in more than 40 years.

The 43 killings in May surpassed the 42 homicides the city saw in August 1990, and left Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake defending police and her administration.

INTERACTIVE: Baltimore Homicides Map /\

Speaking at a morning ceremony to honor McKenzie Elliott, the 3-year-old killed by a stray bullet in August, Rawlings-Blake said it's time to stop finger-pointing and assigning blame for the recent violence.

The killing of African-Americans in Baltimore has to stop, she said, noting that 189 of the 208 killed last year were black men. For the city to improve, all homicides need to drop, she added.

"We have to do better," the mayor said. "We have to want more."

City Councilman Brandon Scott, vice chair of the public safety committee, echoed that theme, saying it's time for all Baltimoreans to have honest conversations about ways to stop the violence.

There isn't one solution or one person who shoulders the blame, he said, adding that homicides affect all residents in the city, not just those in the poorest neighborhoods.

"Too many people have died in our town," he said Sunday afternoon. "Don't point fingers or go to social media. Everybody has to look in the mirror and ask, 'What are they doing?'"

Related Link: May 2015: Baltimore's deadliest month
 since 1970s

The city's 43rd homicide in May occurred late Sunday morning, when two men were shot in the back in the 1900 block of Collington Ave. in the South Clifton Park section of East Baltimore. One victim was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:37 a.m., according to police, while the second victim walked into an area hospital. His condition was not immediately available.

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