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2 Dead, Including Officer, After Nightclub Shooting

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—Six people shot and two dead, including one Baltimore City police officer, after a massive fight and gun battle broke out just outside of a downtown Baltimore nightclub.

Police aren't releasing many details, but Derek Valcourt has been working the story.

Police are looking into the possibility that the officer may have been in plainclothes and may have been killed by friendly fire.

The fight and the subsequent gunshots broke out just after 1:15 a.m. Sunday on Paca Street just outside of the Select Lounge nightclub.

Police are releasing few details but say one of their officers radioed a signal 13—an emergency call for assistance to fellow officers. As more police arrived, gunfire erupted.

A total of six people were shot--two of them killed, including a Baltimore City police officer identified by our media partner the Baltimore Sun as William H. Torbit Jr.  Torbit, 33, was an eight-year veteran of the force.

The police commissioner and mayor spent most of the night comforting relatives at the hospital.

"I prayed that we would never lose another officer, yet here we are again, and it is a terribly rough time for the family and for the police department and for the city," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. "So I ask you to keep the families in prayer."

Also killed in the fight was a civilian– 22-year-old Sean Gamble-- semi-professional football player who is being memorialized by friends on the Internet.

A second unidentified police officer was shot in the left foot. He is expected to make a full recovery, as are the three other civilians whose gunshot wounds were considered non-life-threatening.

"We have a ton of work to do to put together the facts about what happened here," said Baltimore City Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld.

Police say multiple officers fired multiple shots. Detectives are interviewing those officers and the dozens of witnesses who were in the area at the time.

"What we need to figure out now is what sparked the shooting," said Anthony Guglielmi, police spokesperson. "Was there a weapon drawn by a civilian? Was an officer's weapon taken during a struggle?  All of that needs to be explored."

Police say they hope to be able to release more information Monday.

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