Two shootings (out of several) have generated interest this week -- the woundings of two on The Avenue in Hampden and and another near Johns Hopkins Kennedy Krieger Institute in East Baltimore. In that case, an employee's handbag may have saved a woman from being shot.

Police made an arrest in the case about an hour ago.

The Sun's Justin Fenton reports that the Hopkins shooting occurred Tuesday evening and that a bullet pierced Ana Matheus' purse, checkbook, credit card and a $20 bill. Another employee was shot in the hand; both apparently hit by stray bullets.

Matheus is fortunate. The 27-year-old employee at the pediatric hospital told Fenton: "I've always felt pretty safe with the security guards on the corners, but I don't know, it definitely feels less safe now. It's pretty surreal."

The sprawling Hopkins campus is in the middle of one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city, one that is quickly being transformed by Hopkins itself as the insitution expands and claims neighborhoods that have long been all but abandon, if not by people then certainly of resources.

But legitimate workers in the area, be they Hopkins doctors and nurses or postal employees, have largely been immune from the drug violence around them. They have plenty of guards and certainly have to take precautiions not required in other areas of the city, but rarely has a worker been shot or violently attacked. Still, shootings happen, and stray bullets find all sorts of victims.

The shootings in Hampden grabbed attention because they happened about 11 p.m. on The Avenue, the main shopping drag through the north Baltimore community and home to several hip restaurants and new wine bar. One of the victims was six months pregnant who was wounded in the arm; a man was struck in the leg.

My colleague Brent Jones spoke to patrons and some restaurant owners, but most said the shooting appeared targeted and they predicted it wouldn's scare people away. Police have released few details of the incident, prompting some readers of this blog to question whether the cops were trying to cover it up.

Police made an arrest Tuesday night, charging William Hyde, 18, of Carroll County, with attempted murder. He was caught in North Carolina and we'll have to wait until he's extradited back to Maryland to obtain court documents that will further explain the shootings.