On a citizen patrol walk last night through East Baltimore Midway, police and residents noted how quiet streets like Greenmount and Homewood avenues were. Back in the 1990s, Greenmount between East North and East 25th streets was a notorious open-air drug market.

That was the first area of the city that former Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier hit with a large-scale police raid, then considered an innovative tactic in the fight against crime. It was so quiet last night that the new commander of the Eastern District, Maj. Melvin Russell, noted in a prayer at the end of the walk that, "Not a single gunshot was heard."

A few hours later and a few blocks away, that all changed. A 23-year-old man was shot about 2 a.m. in the 2300 block of Barclay St. The community walk was in the Midway neighborhood. This morning's shooting was a neighborhood over, in Barclay, five blocks to the west and across Greenmount Avenue.

Police don't have a motive yet and the victim is in critical condition at an area hospital. The Barclay neighborhood was the scene of a gang turf war last year involving the Young Gorilla Family and the Bloods (Barclay is Gorilla turf). Last month, a man described as a Young Gorilla leader in Barclay was sentenced to two years in prison for violating the terms of his probation. This is a new tactic being used by prosecutors to target suspected criminals who seem to slip through the justice system.

Lat year, four young men were shot and killed in Barclay in the span of three months. Let's hope this morning's shooting isn't a bad omen; the Eastern District leads the city in drops in slayings and shootings this year.