Baltimore police arrest 17-year-old suspected in block party shooting
BALTIMORE — Authorities have arrested and charged a teen who detectives believe was involved in a mass shooting at a Baltimore block party over the holiday weekend that left two people dead and 28 others wounded, officials announced Friday.
Members of the homicide and SWAT teams arrested the 17-year-old boy around 7 a.m. Friday after executing a search warrant at a home, police said in a news release. He was taken to the Central Booking Intake Facility, where he was charged with possession of a firearm by a minor and possession of an assault weapon, as well as reckless endangerment and having a handgun in a vehicle, police said.
The police news released referred to the teen as a person of interest. He is charged as an adult, but police aren’t identifying him because he is a minor, according to Det. Freddie Talbert, a department spokesperson .
Detectives are still investigating the shooting in the Brooklyn Homes area in the southern part of the city, Talbert said. A reward of up to $28,000 is being offered for any information that leads to an arrest and charges in the case.
The violence occurred as federal prosecutors this week touted their efforts to reduce violent crime in the city.
There was a wave of shootings around the U.S. this week as the country celebrated the Fourth of July. Gun violence in Louisiana, Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., left more than a dozen dead and more than 60 wounded — including children as young as 2.
Earlier this week, interim Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said that investigators believed there were multiple shooters in the block party attack, and that it wasn’t clear whether it was targeted or random.
The shootings of four young people after simple, everyday mistakes have shone a spotlight on the proliferation of ‘stand your ground’ laws in the U.S.
“We don’t know exactly how many, but we do know more than one person was shooting,” Worley said.
The block party has been held for decades, but no permit was issued this year and police didn’t learn of it ahead of time, as they have in past years, Worley said.
Police identified the two people killed as 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez and 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi.
The 28 who were injured range in age from 13 to 32, with more than half younger than 18, officials said. Police said Friday that three of the wounded remain hospitalized in fair condition.
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