Four gunshots followed by the endless blaring of a car horn told neighbors all they needed to know: Stay inside.
Annapolis’ seventh homicide occurred shortly after midnight Saturday in the area of Janwall Street and Tyler Avenue, where Ricardo Humberto Rivera, 34, of Silver Spring, was found slumped over inside a car next to a woman who was bleeding from gunshot wounds and slipping out of consciousness, police said.
The woman, who spoke only a few words to police, was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore City where she remained in critical condition Monday, police said. Her identity is being withheld until her family members are notified.
Police said they have no suspects or motive in the murder, which only heightens fears that Annapolis is on its way to surpassing a record-breaking eight homicides in all of 2008.
The quiet neighborhood had returned to normal Monday morning, but residents said the sight of shell casings strewn across the bloodied streets would be hard to forget.
“I think I’m going to sell the house,” said one resident, who was too scared to give her name. “It’s just too close to home. I don’t feel safe.”
The woman said she heard four gunshots and saw a black car slowly rolling down Janwall Street. A Hispanic man was running down the road in front of the car, she said, which eventually crashed into a truck that was parked at the end of the street in a driveway.
She could not see whether the man was holding a weapon.
Police spokesman Officer Hal Dalton declined comment.
William Gross, 45, who lives across the street from the scene, said he was alarmed to hear the officers discussing gang activity.
“It was a [thorough] crime scene investigation,” Gross said, adding that residents are worried about the presence of MS-13 members in the community.
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