Body found on elementary school grounds
[UPDATE: The victim has been identified as Kenly Wheeler, 29. He appears to have a number of arrests on his record, but none since 2005, according to the judiciary case search website.]
City police are investigating the killing of a man whose body was found on the grounds of an East Baltimore elementary school this morning. Police said someone reported the discovery at about 8 a.m. near a basketball court at Dr. Bernard Harris Elementary School, in the 1400 block of N. Caroline St. School officials and school police alerted city police to what was initially termed a "suspicious death," but spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says police soon discovered the man had been shot in the chest. They found a gun underneath him and a "half ski mask," he said.
It was not clear whether a student, parent, teacher or someone else made the grisly discovery, but when I visited the scene this morning there did not appear to be any signs that the school had briefly been a crime scene. The littered area around the basketball court, on the campus' south boundary, didn't include crime tape remnants that we often see after police leave the area. Edie House, a city schools spokeswoman, said the school was not placed on a lockdown.
The killing is the 25th of the year, compared with 37 at this time last year. That's a drop of about 33 percent. It's the second time someone has been killed in the Oliver neighborhood this year.
[UPDATE: Police have tentatively identified the victim as a 28-year-old man. They still have to make the next-of-kin notification.]
Categories: Breaking news, East Baltimore
Comments
The school is named Dr. Bernard Harris Sr. Elementary and it is located at 1400 N. Caroline Street.
Eek, I have that in my notes, not sure how it got onto the blog wrong. Thanks for the spot.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 3, 2010 12:08 PM
Crime scene tape left up? If you have been seeing that at other scenes it is an indication the officers there do not care much for the community. Over in the Western, we used to always clean our scene, from removing tape to having the Fire Department wash down blood and remove gloves and wrappers.
There is no reason to leave debris up as a reminder or sign of the carnage. The neighborhoods deserve better.
Posted by: 2020 | March 3, 2010 12:12 PM
I never thought i'd yearn for the days when many of the bodies were left in the parks.. at least an presumable adult jogging or walking their dog was more likely to find it then a child.
@2020.. thank you for taking the time to clean up the remnants of violence. I agree with you heartily that it's bad enough having a murder in the neighborhood, much less having trash and reminders thereof left around.
Posted by: Meekrat | March 3, 2010 12:30 PM
My prayers go out to the family and the children of Baltimore. Would love to hear some positive news for a change.
We do have plenty of blogs that discuss more uplifiting news...! -Justin
Posted by: lightupthedark | March 3, 2010 2:18 PM
God is the Best Knower!
Posted by: Bobby Muhammad | March 3, 2010 8:43 PM
it's sad to say that crime has dropped. One murder is still one too many. Everyday you hear of a murder or some type of crime. Wake up Baltimore, you are hurting yourselves and your city.
Posted by: kell | March 4, 2010 2:48 PM
I'm really sad - he was a sweet guy. I spoke to him everyday and he was softspoken and always quick with a smile. It's my understanding that he was walking to work when this happened and he is a person and someone's family, not just a statistic or dot on a crime map.
My heart breaks to know I won't have that smiling "how you doing" every morning.... he will be missed.
Posted by: Sad :( | March 4, 2010 3:48 PM
I think lightupthedark was speaking to the people of Baltimore, Justin - not necessarily that you aren't reporting the good news.
Posted by: intoit | March 5, 2010 9:50 AM