Gunfire erupted at a block party in Baltimore on Sunday, killing two people, wounding 28, and leaving an extensive crime scene that marred the Fourth of July holiday weekend, police said.
Three of the wounded were in critical condition. Baltimore Police Department Acting Commissioner Richard Worley told reporters there were a total of 30 victims during a press conference at the scene. The shooting took place just after 12:30 a.m. at a block party in the Brooklyn Homes area in the southern part of the city, Worley told reporters.
Their statement added that the “community should also know that they have our wholehearted support during this unimaginably difficult time” and that such an “act of violence has shaken our city to the very core, and we are all grappling with the shock, pain, and trauma that accompanies such a heinous act of destruction.”
“This tragedy again shows why we must continue to focus on the amount of illegal guns on our streets that make it into the hands of individuals who should not have them and continuously carry out violent acts in our city,” the mayor and the department also said.
Nineteen victims were treated in the emergency department at MedStar Harbor Hospital, according to hospital spokesperson Debra Schindler. Nine of the critically injured patients were stabilized and transferred to Baltimore trauma centers. All but one of the 19 victims sent to MedStar have been released.
“As is protocol following any walk-in victim of violence, the hospital went on immediate lock-down to secure the campus and ensure the safety of all patients and associates,” Schindler said in a statement. “Multiple critically injured patients were evaluated and triaged simultaneously by clinical staff, while hospital security managed the throng of family members that gathered in and outside of the emergency department.”
The shooting occurred shortly at around midnight at the “Brooklyn Day” block party in the Brooklyn Homes area of Baltimore, where hundreds of people attended, according to local media reports. A witness told station Fox 45 that about 20 to 30 shots were fired in a short period of time.
No suspects have been arrested in connection to the case. Investigators stated they are reviewing video surveillance.
Lakell Nelson, 54, said there had been several false alarms of people mistaking the sounds of fireworks for gunfire earlier in the night while she was at the block party. However, by the time she was getting to her car, the actual shooting began.
“The shots were just going on and on and on,” she said. That’s when two young women approached her and said they’d been shot. “I kinda didn’t believe them at first because they were walking up the street. I said, ‘Show me,’ and the girl was like, ‘I was shot in my butt,’” she said. “When she turned around, I saw the hole through her shorts.”
Police have reported nearly 130 homicides and close to 300 shootings so far in 2023, though that’s down from the same time last year. Authorities have vowed to crack down aggressively on repeat violent offenders.
