2 dead, 28 injured including children in Baltimore mass shooting
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Investigators are seeking the public’s help in tracking down multiple suspects, the police said.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – Investigators in the United States are searching for suspects following a mass shooting early on Sunday at an outdoor neighbourhood block party in Baltimore, Maryland, that left two people dead and 28 others injured, about half of them children.
An 18-year-old woman and 20-year-old man were killed, and nine people were still hospitalised with gunfire wounds as at Sunday afternoon, including a few in critical condition, police told reporters.
Among the injured were some 14 victims under the age of 18, said acting commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department Richard Worley, noting that they were still trying to confirm the victims’ ages.
Mr Worley said police were still searching for multiple suspects, and he urged the community to come forward with any information or videos.
“We know for sure there are more than one. We don’t know how many (suspects),” he added.
He said the police received multiple calls about a shooting just after 12.30am.
“Upon officers’ arrival, we located multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds,” Mr Worley said, adding that three people were in a critical condition.
Hundreds of people were gathered in the area for an event called “Brooklyn Day” when the shooting occurred, a witness told TV station Fox 45, adding that 20 to 30 shots were heard.
CNN quoted Mr Worley as saying that as yet, there was no information on suspects or a motive, but investigators were “working an extensive crime scene”.
One resident of the neighbourhood, Mr Terry Brown, told the Baltimore Sun that he was standing outside his home when he heard the crackle of gunfire, followed by a stampede of people fleeing in panic for cover.
“It was chaos,” Mr Brown said. “Parents were running around looking for their children, hollering and screaming, and didn’t know if their child has a bullet in them.”
Among the injured were some 14 victims under the age of 18.
PHOTO: AFP
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott called the incident “an absolute tragedy that did not have to happen”.
“It again highlights the impacts and the need to deal with the over-proliferation of illegal guns on our streets and the ability of those who should not have them to get their hands on them,” Mr Scott said.
“We will not stop until we find those cowards who decided to just shoot dozens of people, causing two people to lose their lives.”
With more firearms than inhabitants, the United States has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country – 20,200 in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA).
Sunday’s mass shooting was at least the 337th to occur in 2023, according to the GVA, which defines a “mass shooting” as a gun-related incident in which four or more people are wounded or killed. REUTERS, AFP
