Police Arrest Man Who Shot 3 Teens In Baltimore
BALTIMORE (WJZ) --A violent night on the streets of Baltimore, where police report a total of 7 people shot overnight, 1 fatally.
As WJZ's Derek Valcourt explains the most startling of the crimes involved teenagers.
Thursday afternoon Baltimore Police announced the arrest of 25-year-old Keon White who they say shot three teens last night on the streets of Baltimore.
Just after 10 p.m. Wednesday, 911 calls poured in about a shooting in the 800 block of North Glover Street.
Responding officers found not one but three teens shot, including a 13-year-old boy shot in the chest, a 15-year-old boy shot int the chest and shoulder and a 16-year-old girl shot in the leg.
All of the teens were rushed to area hospital, where their injuries are being treated.
Interim Police Commissioner Kevin Davis personally responded to the crime scene.
"We don't know what the motive was. We know it was an outdoor shooting scene and we know we have one shooter," Davis said. "That's the bad news. The good news is I've been out here for several minutes now, the community is stepping up. It's certainly unacceptable for this community to see three teenagers being shot on a beautiful summer night like this and it's my impression that they've had enough."
Minutes after that shooting, three other men ranging in ages from 21 to 37 were shot in the 2000 block of North Forest Park Avenue. They are expected to survive.
Another man was shot and killed just after 11 p.m. on Clendenin Street.
Police are asking another with information to call Crime Stoppers at 1866 7 Lockup. You can remain anonymous and you may even earn some reward money.
In a press conference on Thursday Davis says they found the suspect shortly after finding his car.
"They pointed us in the direction of a particular house last night where we thought our shooter may have run into," Davis said. "That's why you saw the swat team out there last night. He wasn't in there but we found him not too far away after we found his car."
What's so frustrating for community leaders here, is kids aren't just the victims of some of these crimes, in some cases they're actually responsible for violence.
"We have this happening at a rate we haven't had in so long," said Councilman Brandon Scott.
Scott tells WJZ there needs to be a shift in the community's attitude.
"We can't just rely on the police. We have to when kids are outside and we see something like that. We should have people getting the kids away or diffusing the situation before it gets to that point," he says.
Community activist Munir Bahar agrees. His organization helps train young kids to make smarter and healthier life decisions. He says teaching anger management and emotional control skills is key.
"That's the driving factor for this violence, an out of control response stemming from anger, hatred, self-hate," said Bahar.
The police commissioner said it plainly-- this arrest wouldn't have been possible without help from witnesses who stepped forward and they credit their new so-called "war room" for helping quickly disseminate information about the suspect who now faces of number of criminal charges.
Police say all three of the teenage gunshot victims are expected to survive.
