A woman was shot in the hand in Baltimore, and police say they were tipped off by an automated gunfire alert. Officers responded to the 1000 block of Myrtle Avenue after the Baltimore Police Department received a ShotSpotter alert flagging the location, according to the department.
When officers arrived, they did not find a crime scene at the alert location, as reported by WBFF. The woman later told police she had been shot in the hand, and she was taken to a hospital for treatment, per the same report. Detectives responded to the scene to investigate, and police are now asking anyone with information to contact them at 410-396-2477.
How Baltimore's Gunshot-Detection System Triggered the Response
The alert that sent officers to Myrtle Avenue came from ShotSpotter, an acoustic gunshot detection system that can alert police without awaiting a call for service, according to the Baltimore Police Department. Department materials also discuss investigating ShotSpotter alerts and forensic acoustic reports.
The Myrtle Avenue corridor has seen enforcement activity before. The 1000 block sits within an area where BPD has conducted enforcement activity. Farther down the same corridor, court records published by Baltimore Witness document a fatal 2017 armed robbery shooting in the 1300 block of Myrtle Avenue, offering a grim historical marker for the street's violent past.
A Citywide Drop in Shootings, With Room Still to Close
The Myrtle Avenue shooting comes amid a broader decline in gun violence across Baltimore. Mayor Brandon M. Scott's office announced this month that non-fatal shootings citywide are down 5.6% year-to-date, with 201 reported through the period compared to 213 during the same stretch in 2025, according to the Baltimore City Mayor's Office. That builds on a 2025 that saw 133 homicides citywide — the lowest annual total in nearly 50 years — and a 24.5% year-over-year decline in non-fatal shootings, per the mayor's office.
Investigators have also gotten better at solving these cases. The Baltimore Police Department reported in July that its clearance rate for non-fatal shootings climbed more than 12 percentage points year-over-year to reach 54%, a figure the department says significantly exceeds national averages. As of Aug. 29, officers had seized over 1,367 firearms, including 138 ghost guns, and made 826 gun-related arrests citywide, per the mayor's office. The city's Group Violence Reduction Strategy has also logged more than 675 arrests and referred over 420 people at high risk of violence to social support services through August, according to the same source.
How to Report Information
Detectives have not released a suspect description or identified a motive in the Myrtle Avenue shooting. Anyone with information is asked to contact Baltimore Police detectives at 410-396-2477. Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland can be reached at 1-866-7LOCKUP.
