Baltimore detective shooting death prompts look at city's homicide rate

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Manhunt for gunman after Baltimore detective shot in head

Cops launch dragnet for 'callous coward with a gun' who took aim at 18-year police veteran.

Detective Sean Suiter, an 18-year veteran of the Baltimore police department, died at the hospital Thursday after an unknown gunman shot him in the head on Wednesday.

The manhunt for the “cold, callous” killer is still underway.

“Today, FBI Baltimore joins the Baltimore Police Department in mourning the loss of Detective Sean Suiter," SAC Gordon B. Johnson of the Baltimore Field Office said in a statement. "We extend our deepest condolences to the family of Detective Suiter, Baltimore Police commissioner Kevin Davis, and the entire Baltimore Police Department. Our thoughts and prayers are with Detective Suiter, his family, friends, and colleagues."

The city of Baltimore, Maryland has had roughly 308 homicides in the last year, according to data from the Baltimore Sun. Suiter’s death adds to that number, meaning that Baltimore continues to have one of the highest homicide rates in the United States.

Here’s a look at some of the numbers over the last ten years:

2007 - 282 homicides

2008 - 234 homicides

2009 - 240 homicides

2010 - 224 homicides

2011 - 197 homicides

2012 - 217 homicides

2013 - 235 homicides

2014 - 211 homicides

2015 - 344 homicides

2016 - 318 homicides

2017 - 308 homicides, which doesn’t appear to include Suiter’s death.

As a result, the Baltimore Police Department has had trouble retaining officers. One report even found that in 2017, the city was operating with fewer officers than at any time during the past ten years.

In relation to Suiter’s death, the FBI's Baltimore field office and the DEA's Baltimore district office are offering up to $60,000 for information that leads to the arrest of the unknown gunman.

Anyone with a tip should call the department at 410-396-2100 or text 443-902-4824.