Picture this. It's 10:25 on a Sunday night in West Baltimore. The BP gas station on Edmondson Avenue — the kind of place where people stop for gas and snacks on their way home, where the lights are always on and the pumps are always humming.
Then the ShotSpotter goes off.
Fourteen rounds. Crack-crack-crack-crack, tearing through the night air. And before the echo even fades — eight more. Same location. Same gas station.
When Baltimore police rolled up to the 2800 block of Edmondson Avenue, what they found was carnage. Four people on the ground — a 34-year-old woman and three men, ages 20, 24, and 48 — all shot. And while they were working that scene, word came in that a fifth victim, another man, had shown up at a hospital on his own with gunshot wounds.
The 34-year-old woman is dead. The 20-year-old man is dead. The other three are in the hospital with injuries that aren’t expected to be life-threatening.
Police Commissioner Richard Worley stood in front of the cameras and said what nobody wanted to hear: they think two or three gunmen did this. With high-powered rifles. At a gas station. On a Sunday night.
"We don't know any of that yet," Worley said when they asked him about a motive. No arrests. No suspects named. Just bodies and bullet casings and a whole lot of questions.
Here's what makes this even heavier — this isn't some isolated thing. Baltimore has had at least four mass shootings in the past month. A 12-year-old girl was killed at a park in West Baltimore. Two teenagers — 18 and 19 — gunned down in Winchester. Worley didn't hide his frustration. He talked about young people firing weapons they don't know how to control, spraying bullets and hitting whoever's standing there.
Five people went to that gas station Sunday night. Two of them never came home.
If you know anything, Baltimore police want to hear from you: 410-396-2466. Or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP.
Brought to you by Team Murphy Media.
UPDATE — Baltimore police responded to our request for comment Monday morning with their official statement on the investigation. Police confirm officers were sent to the 2800 block of Edmondson Avenue at about 10:26 PM Sunday on a ShotSpotter alert, and confirm the two people who died were the 20-year-old man and the 34-year-old woman. The other three victims are believed to have non-life-threatening injuries. Police have not released the victims' names, and their statement did not name any suspects or arrests, or add detail on the shooters or weapons beyond what Commissioner Worley said at the scene. Homicide detectives are asking anyone with information to call them directly at 410-396-2100. Anonymous tips: Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP.
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