BALTIMORE — As the temperatures soared on Monday, tempers flared in a flash point of violence in the city with two separate quadruple shootings.
Police don't believe the two are connected.
Watch as advocates respond saying there's still "work to do"
The first, happened just before 7 p.m., when two shooters drove up to the 1900 block of Ramsay Street, exited their car and opened fire. Police, who were already patrolling the area due to recent violence, responded to the scene.
About three hours later, around 9:40 p.m., police then responded to a ShotSpotter notification a little more than a mile away on Edmondson Avenue, where they found four more injured with gunshot wounds.
In total, the youngest victims are 14, the oldest, 66. Most are expected to survive, however a 19-year-old is in critical condition.
"We've done a good bit of work, but this reminds us that we still have work to do," executive director of the University of Maryland Baltimore's Center for Violence Prevention Nadine Finigan-Carr said.
Both the homicide and non-fatal shooting rates in the city have been trending downward, which have been touted by city leaders.
"We will not be swayed by some cowards doing cowardly things," Mayor Brandon Scott said. "But it's disappointing any time it happens, especially when you have something like this."
Finigan-Carr says violent crime tends to increase when it's hotter outside.
"We're hot, we're overheated, we're frustrated, and so imagine that with a gun in your hand," she explained.
But the effects, radiate well beyond the victims.
"It's unfortunate because when you have a set back like this, the whole neighborhood suffers. And you look around and there's not a whole lot here of positivity," community mentor Steven Harris said.
However, Harris says there are still "glimmers of hope." Thanks to the work of a variety of advocacy groups with boots on the ground, he says he sees a difference.
“The saying goes for every 10 great jobs, or atta boys, it’s just that one negative thing that spoils the whole bunch. We just have to keep pushing," Harris added.
Gun violence is a difficult problem to solve, often because Finigan-Carr says, it's tackled once the weapon is a part of the equation, not before.
"We can't control the temperatures, we can't control the climate, but what we can start to do is figure out what can we do to almost for lack of a better term, heat proof our neighborhoods, especially those that are more socially uh disadvantaged," she said. "How can we support our communities? Is it adding more air conditioners in public housing? Is it having the pools open for longer periods of time?"
Police are still searching for the suspects in both shootings.
