The remains of the block party can still be seen. Beverage cups and rubbish are still lying on the street. A shoe left behind in between gives an idea of how quickly the exuberant partying was over. Now the streets are ruled by barrier tape and patrol cars with flashing blue lights. The summer festival became a crime scene.
Around 12:30 a.m., the police received a series of emergency calls, the authorities reported in a press conference in the morning. Unknown persons had opened fire in the midst of the revelers. When the emergency services arrive on site, they find two dead and nine injured. As the night progresses, wounded partygoers continue to appear at area hospitals. The sad result: 30 people were injured by the shooting, two of them died. At least three others are in critical condition, according to the authorities.
The police are now trying to determine what exactly happened. According to reports, hundreds of people had come together to celebrate the so-called “Brooklyn Day”. The festival apparently covered several complete streets of the district of the same name. According to several US media, the police said that it was a “large-scale” crime scene. The two fatalities are both adults, a man and a woman.
The exact course of events is just as little known as the motive of the perpetrators. The only thing that is clear is that numerous shots were fired. An eyewitness reported to “Fox45” that between 20 and 30 shots were fired. “They kept pulling the trigger.”
Baltimore’s crime problem has been well known for years. The city has the second-highest homicide rate in the country, at over 50 to 60 homicides per 100,000 people. The city’s drug and gang problems are the basis of the famous crime series The Wire.
Mayor Brandon Scott nevertheless addressed the perpetrators directly. “I want those responsible to hear me very clearly: we will not rest until we have found you. And we will find you,” he warns. “Until then, I hope that every breath you take reminds you of the lives you took today.”
Sources: Fox 45, AP, CNN.
