By Tavon N. Thomasson
AFRO Intern
Within the span of a few hours on June 23, two separate mass shootings erupted in Baltimore, leaving multiple people wounded.
The first incident occurred about 7 p.m., after the sound of gunfire echoed from the 1900 block of McHenry St., alerting officers nearby. At the scene, police found three young males, two aged 14 and one 18, with multiple gunshot wounds. The young victims were treated by officers on-site before paramedics transported them to area hospitals. Shortly after, police came across a 38-year-old female victim who had been nicked in the leg by a bullet.
Later that night, at about 9:40 p.m., law enforcement received a ShotSpotter alert indicating gunfire on Edmondson Avenue’s 2500 block. Responding officers encountered four adult males, aged 19, 43, 52 and 66, respectively, wounded by gunfire. Paramedics later took all four men to local hospitals for treatment. Authorities have confirmed the 19-year-old is in critical condition, though the other victims’ conditions are stable.
Outside the scene of the 9:40 p.m. shooting, city officials, including Mayor Brandon Scott and Police Commissioner Richard Worley, held an on-site media briefing to share early details on both shootings.
When asked at the briefing whether the two shootings were connected, Worley said it was too early to tell. “Preliminarily, there’s really no ties. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to find one. When they (detectives) investigate, they’re investigating all eight victims to see if there are any ties at any point.”
Mayor Scott called on residents to step up and support law enforcement efforts to help bring these perpetrators to justice. Currently, no arrests have been made.
“This is, of course, the second of two unfortunate, cowardly incidents where folks took to using weapons that they should not have to resolve whatever conflicts that they have,” said Scott. “But more importantly, if you know anything about these two , come forward. Treat it as if it was your son. Treat it as if it was someone related to you that was the victim of this incident or the incident earlier today. We will continue to work to hunt these people down and remove them and those weapons from the streets of Baltimore, but we need the community’s help to do so.”
The AFRO reached out to the Baltimore Police Department for updates on the case, but no new information is available at this time as the investigation remains ongoing.