Photos: Riots in Baltimore

Photos by Maximilian Franz / The Daily Record

April 27, 2015, will go down as one of the worst days in Baltimore history.

West Baltimore erupted in riots on Monday with residents looting stores and burning vehicles following the funeral of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American who died from injuries sustained while in police custody.

The riots began as juveniles clashed with police outside of Mondawmin Mall in the afternoon and quickly spread along Pennsylvania Avenue corridor. Baltimore police in riot gear took up positions surrounding the area trying to prevent the disturbance from spreading to other parts of the city.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, during a press conference Monday night, called rioters “thugs” and chastised them for destroying communities and businesses that generations of residents worked to build.

Gov. Larry Hogan declared the city in a state of emergenc,y and Rawlings-Blake announced a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew starting on Tuesday and lasting for a week.

As police responded to the scene, some residents stood in the street making obscene gestures and shouting profanities. Looters could be seen carrying away products from stores ranging from toilet paper to liquor. One motorist even stopped and bought a bottle of booze from what appeared to be a juvenile running from a store with the bottles head high above his head.

At the intersection of Pennsylvania and North avenues a car and van had been set on fire and a Baltimore police car was smashed in the middle of the road. Occasionally rocks and other debris were being thrown at the police and explosions could be heard in the distance.

These riots come on the heels of incidents on Saturday night when peaceful protests tuned violent outside of Oriole Park at Camden Yards and several businesses downtown were vandalized or looted.