A shooting at a block party in Baltimore on Sunday – killing two people, injuring 28 and triggering a wider crime scene – spoiled the US holiday weekend, police said. The condition of three of the injured is serious.
Acting Commissioner Richard Worley of the Baltimore Police Department told reporters during a news conference that there were a total of 30 victims at the scene. Worley said the shooting happened just after 12:30 a.m. At a block party in the Brooklyn Homes neighborhood on the city’s south side.
The shooting comes amid gatherings ahead of the Fourth of July holiday across the country. Elsewhere, seven people were injured and two other victims were hospitalized in a shooting in Kansas after being trampled by people leaving a nightclub on Sunday morning, police there said.
Worley said nine victims were taken by ambulance and 20 victims were taken to regional hospitals with gunshot wounds.
Nineteen of those victims were treated in MedStar Harbor Hospital’s emergency department, according to hospital spokeswoman Debra Schindler. Nine seriously injured patients were stabilized and transferred to the Baltimore Trauma Center. Of the 19 victims sent to MedStar, all but one have been released.
“As per protocol upon arrival of any victim of violence, the hospital immediately went on lockdown to secure the premises and ensure the safety of all patients and associates,” Schindler said in a statement. “Many critically injured patients were assessed and tested simultaneously by clinical staff, while hospital security managed crowds of family members gathered in and outside the emergency department.”
Meanwhile, dozens of victims were sent to the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center for treatment and four others to the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Pediatric Emergency Department, according to University of Maryland Medical System spokesman Michael Schwartzberg.
Police said an 18-year-old woman was found dead at the scene and a 20-year-old man was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later.
Mayor Brandon Scott said at the scene, “I want the people who are responsible to hear me and hear me very clearly.” Think about the breath you take, think about the lives you took, think about the lives you affected here tonight.”
No arrests were made immediately after the shootings. Scott asked anyone with information to come forward to help investigators find the “cowards” who were responsible for the shootings.
