A day after the South Baltimore shooting that killed two and left dozens of children and young adults injured following a block party, city officials are evaluating whether the police department reacted quickly enough to the party before gunfire erupted.
Acting Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said Monday that although the department was aware that hundreds of people were in attendance at the annual “Brooklyn Day” celebration before the shooting, the conversation about whether to send more officers to the neighborhood happened “too late.”
“Unfortunately we didn’t get there in time to prevent what happened,” Worley said at a news conference.
Even if more officers had been present, Worley said it’s not a guarantee that the shooting would have been prevented, but it is possible a more substantial police presence could have deterred the trigger-pullers.
The shooting happened after midnight Sunday when hundreds of people were gathered at Brooklyn Homes following the annual block party. The gunfire injured 28 people, the majority of whom were teenagers.
Two people — 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez and 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi — were killed. At least four other people were in critical condition Monday and a total of seven remain hospitalized, officials said.
Hospital officials credited a coordinated response between medical providers and first-responders for preventing further deaths.
Police did not know about the block party until the day of the event, Worley said. Last year, police knew about the event three days in advance and were able to put together resources to staff it, he said.
Worley said that departmental staffing was not an issue for its response, or lack thereof, something in direct contrast to what the police union stated Sunday. The department is short hundreds of officers.
Mayor Brandon Scott pledged at the press conference to support the Brooklyn neighborhood however the city can and promised to utilize whatever resources are needed to catch those responsible.
“We won’t stop until we find those responsible and hold them accountable,” Scott said.
Worley, who has been in his role for less than a month, said the department is committed to a “thorough investigation.” On Sunday, in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, police officials said there were likely two shooters. The city is offering a $28,000 reward for information leading to the shooters’ arrests.
Worley said Monday that police recovered guns from the scene but declined to share specifics. Videos of young people at the block party toting guns were posted on social media and both Worley and Scott said police were investigating those videos for possible leads on the shooters.
While gun violence as a whole is down in Baltimore this year compared to the same time last year, Sunday’s shooting continues a troubling increase in the number of young people shot and killed. Not including Sunday’s mass shooting, at least 64 people aged 19 and younger have been shot in Baltimore this year, according to publicly available police data. At least 27 young people have been killed.
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