Yup. News story here, with a more detailed but out of date story here.
He was asleep in a frat house, about a block or so away from my apartment. They think someone came in through the back door, which had been left unlocked after a party, and… well… stabbed him. The killer didn’t take anything, and nobody but the victim saw him, so motive is anybody’s guess.
Greatest City in America, huh?
I had no idea about this nonsense. It’s close to home for me as well, but not as close as you though. And it’s pretty damn sickening.
Holy cow! Mrs. Mercotan and I lived on that block.
Ok, you can be a commuter student now, dear.
This has nothing to do with the OP, but i had no idea we all live so close (kinda). Neat! The situation still sucks though.
That’s terrible. In theory, I always think of premeditated murder being worse, but all these random acts of violence sure don’t seem any less reprehensible.
Yeah… so about my borrowing the extra car this summer…
It’s so hard to get ANY idea of why this happened. Maybe the killer was trying to rob the place and was surprised to find someone there. (But he didn’t take anything, so that seems kinda odd.) Maybe he had something against the victim, or the guy whose room the victim was staying in. (He lived elsewhere and swapped rooms with another frat brother for the night so the guy who lived in the house could study.) Maybe it’s just some random psychopath.
Honestly, I really, really hope it was someone with a grudge. Personally, I think that’s a lot LESS scary, because it’s a hell of a lot easier to predict than a robbery gone bad or a random nutjob.
Eric awaits you. He has acquired a Feingold bumper sticker now.
Mom will probably freak, you know. Never mind that I was at the med school all those years, where a classmate had been stabbed to death and she didn’t seem to worry about me. But you’re her baby.
Keep safe, kiddo. And remember the patented Mercotan defense technique!
Run away…
Dadgop
Hah, I was wondering why you’d let your dad see that. 
You know, I visited Baltimore in fall for a conference, and I can’t say I thought it lived up to that name either. It really weirded me out when the folks from Hopkins were talking about safe routes to drive home on, and I work in Chicago.
I’m willing to bet that the killer was someone the guy knew, since there was no robbery.
Yeah, I text messaged her, and her reply seemed sort of… freaked. Forgot she’d be at her goddess group tonight, rather than at home with you to reassure her. Whoops.
(Please do remind her of my building’s security guard and two access-card-needing doorways, as well as my room’s multiple deadbolts and non-ground-floor location.)
Yup. Not going to worry about pride here. A kid got knifed a couple of weeks ago because he wouldn’t give up his wallet to a mugger. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Eh, if I hadn’t mentioned it, they would’ve found out anyway. And then there would have been a higher degree of freaking out, I’m sure.
A lot of that might just be overreacting.
Well.
Some of it.
Depending on where they live.
God, I hope so. It’ll make the bastard easier to catch, at least.
Memorial service is Tuesday morning. They’ve canceled classes so everyone can attend. Hope we’ll have some more information by then… 
I’ve been in San Jose, Houston, Dallas, New York City, Tokyo, Toronto, lots of big cities… but Baltimore is unquestionably the scariest city I’ve ever been in.
I went there twice for a cartoon/anime convention. The first time I was with a larger group of friends, so it wasn’t so bad… but the second time, I was rooming with less close friends, so I mostly was on my own. Just walking to and from the convention center and the hotel during the day was fine since lots of other conventioneers were along the way (although I heard a few people got harrassed) but one day I went with another friend back to her hotel room, in a different hotel from mine… and stayed until it was after dark and late enough that the streets were pretty empty. Whoops. Walking through downtown Baltimore alone at night as a 20 year old female carrying bags of merchandise definitely ranks up with the scariest things I’ve ever done.
I think if I were stupid enough to have stayed that late again, I would have probably just called my hotel room and said I was going to be rooming with a friend overnight so they wouldn’t worry.
Awful and very sad, but somehow not too surprising for Baltmore, in my opinion. I am a native Baltimorean, and stuff like this is why I don’t live downtown… or for that matter, even go downtown unless I absolutely have to.
How does Baltimore compare to Detroit? No offense to anyone from there, but I’ve heard a lot of bad things about Detroit. (And it is the home of the Red Wings. :mad: )
Anyhoo…
Updated news article available here. God, they’re calling it a “slaying” now. I hate that word.
As for how current Baltimore compares to other cities… I honestly couldn’t tell you, though I could look up some statistics. I’ve experienced other cities primarily as a visitor, mostly with Qadgop or some kind of organized group, so I’ve usually had the luxury of staying in nice places and having some form of personal transportation. In Baltimore, I’m a pedestrian pretty much all the time, so being hyper-aware has become automatic.
Random act of violence MY @SS! :mad: :mad:
If your cops believe this, then they are dumber than a backwoods redneck.
Frat houses are usually crawling with people.
Somebody knew when it wasn’t.
Look to his frat “brothers” for the guilty party.
In most murder cases, the victim & the perp knew one another.
Well, according to a police spokeswoman, he gave only a vague description, and it didn’t seem to be of someone he knew. This wasn’t where he usually stayed, and there were about 15 or 20 people in the house - even for a frat house, that’s a reasonable number. I don’t think it adds up to someone he knew targeting him.
WHAT it adds up to, I have no clue.
If it does turn out to be another student, it wouldn’t be the first student-on-student killing in recent years. There was one back in 1996, apparently. I know someone who was friends with both the killer and the victim and that one. She heard the shot, too. :eek:
Kidgop, you come live with us in nice, safe Dundalk. We’ll feed you and keep you safe and supply you with DSL and Canadian chocolate.
I wasn’t aware that you attended Hopkins. I work for Hopkins. What are you taking?
Here in the relatively “safe” town of Ann Arbor, a friend of mine was awakened when someone broke into his apartment and beat him with a baseball bat. It turns out, as near as the cops can figure, that some thugs were settling a score drug-related) and they got the wrong apartment.
OK, the “not his typical residence” bit throws a wrench in that theory - as Cranky suggested, maybe some guy who’s usually at that house was the target and the attacker knew his intended victim.
elfbabe, can’t say I’m familiar with where these women lived. The convention was held in a hotel in the downtown harbor/pier area, and I know the airport shuttle guy cautioned me against roaming outside of that immediate area at night. I know it is possible to be overly cautious at times, though; a sister-in-law got a ride from a relative rather than drive her car to where I work, as she was afraid that a (suburban white woman in a) Lexus would be a “target.” I wondered what the heck she thought the doctors that work here drive to work.