A 25-year-old man was shot Saturday afternoon in Baltimore's Cedonia neighborhood, and a day earlier another person was gunned down near Turner, Oregon — and in neither case has anyone been arrested, because keeping streets safe has ceased to be a priority for the people paid to do it.

Baltimore police responded to the 3200 block of W. Overlea Avenue around 1:45 p.m. on Oct. 24 after reports of a shooting, according to Baltimore News. Officers found a 25-year-old male with an apparent gunshot wound; medics transported him to an area hospital. His condition is unknown. Baltimore News initially reported the location as the 3200 block of Cedonia Avenue before correcting it — a small detail that speaks to a department stretched thin enough that getting the block right is a challenge.

A day earlier and across the country, the Marion County Sheriff's Office responded to a shooting near the 6600 block of Turner Road SE, the Salem Statesman Journal reported. One person was injured. MCSO spokesperson Todd Moquin said officials interviewed several people but made no arrests. He assured the public there is "no ongoing threat to the community" — a familiar refrain officials deploy to close the book before it's open. The sheriff's office did not respond to questions about the nature of the victim's injury or whether they were hospitalized.

Two shootings. Two victims. Two jurisdictions. Zero arrests. Zero answers about who did this or why.

In Baltimore, the pattern is the point. The city has been run by progressive leadership for decades, and the Cedonia neighborhood — like so many others — pays the daily price. Prosecutors who won't prosecute, police departments told to stand down, and a body count that gets a brief mention before the news cycle moves on. The 25-year-old shot Saturday is a statistic in a city that has normalized them.

In Marion County, the silence is different but the result is the same: a victim whose condition officials won't discuss, a spokesperson declaring the matter handled, and no one held to account.

Both agencies ended their statements the same way — asking the public to do their work for them. Baltimore's Northeast District detectives want tips at 410-396-2444. Marion County wants calls at 503-588-5032. Call if you know something, because they don't.

The question isn't why these shootings happen. The question is why the people charged with stopping them keep failing, and why no one ever loses a job over it.