An 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man were killed and 28 others injured in a mass shooting at a Baltimore block party, officials said.
All 30 of the victims had gunshot wounds, Baltimore Police Acting Commissioner Richard Worley said in a Sunday afternoon news conference. Their ages range between 13 and 32 years old, Worley added.
The two people killed were identified by Baltimore police as 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzales and 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi.
Of those injured, 15 were younger than 18 years old, according to a Sunday night news release from police.
Nine of those injured remained in nearby hospitals “in various conditions” Sunday afternoon, the commissioner added.
Investigators continue to scour the large crime scene – which spans multiple blocks – and officials urged anyone with information or who may have captured video footage, including from security cameras, to come forward.
There were “at least two” people who opened fire during the shooting, but authorities are investigating there may have been more, Worley said. Authorities have not shared information about a potential motive.
“All we know right now is that we had multiple (shooters) open fire on a large crowd of people who were out during the block party. We don’t know if they were targeted or if (the shooters) were just shooting indiscriminately down the street,” Worley said.
The violence marks yet another instance during which a celebration turned into a tragedy, with lives lost and others permanently altered.
And it’s a reminder of the deadly consequences of firearms getting into the wrong hands, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in the Sunday afternoon news conference.
“This was a reckless, cowardly act of violence that has taken two lives and altered many, many more,” the mayor said. “This tragic incident is another glaring, unfortunate example of the deep issues of violence in Baltimore, in Maryland and this country and particularly gun violence and the access to illegal guns.”
Just two days into the month, this is one of three mass shootings in July and one of 338 mass shootings in the US in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
