Father of Teen Injured In Baltimore Mass Shooting Says Son Will Survive; Gov. Hogan To Meet With Mayor Scott On Violence
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Police have yet to make any arrests after a mass shooting rattled East Baltimore Sunday afternoon.
Four men in their 20s and a 16-year-old boy were among the victims. WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren spoke briefly to the man's father Monday afternoon. He said his son was "doing good" and would survive the shooting but declined to comment on the recent violence and what lead up to the shooting.
That shooting happened at Preston and Montford, where WJZ saw increased patrols Monday. One man who has lived in East Baltimore his entire life told Hellgren he was too frightened to show his face on camera while commenting on the violence.
"Everybody's scared because if you tell, you may be the next one to die," he told Hellgren. "I do what I've got to do, go right back in. Once it gets dark, I'm in the house. All the time. That's the way it is. Seven years of 300 murders. We'll be lucky to stop at 325 at the end of this year."
Mayor Brandon Scott told WJZ increased police presence is not the answer to stopping the bloodshed.
"Police were two blocks away. We've had incidents where shootings happened right in front of the police, so for folks who think that it's simply about the police, they're just mistaken," Scott said. "This is about making sure we hold people accountable, which we are going to continue to do, taking guns off the streets, gun traffickers—people who are committing these murders and robberies. But we also have to build better people. That means all of us have to invest more one in these young folks—create jobs and opportunities."
He will meet with the governor next week to discuss crime. "We have to build better people so they don't feel so weak or so threatened over some small petty thing that they feel they should go out and shoot at someone or kill someone. That happens in Baltimore all too often," Mayor Scott said.
There have been three mass shootings in three months in East Baltimore.
Gov. Larry Hogan vowed to do everything in his power to help the city get a grip on its violent crime problem.
"We can't become numb to this, but it's every single week in Baltimore City, which is why we announced a major whole set of initiatives we're going to take to help the city get the job done," the governor said.
He said he was not considering drastic action like a state takeover. "I'm not sure there's a way to do that legally. The only way would be to declare a state of emergency and take over—send in the national guard. I don't anticipate that at this point. We're going to take every other action we can."
Hogan also took aim again at Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby. "If Marilyn Mosby doesn't prosecute the criminals, there's not a whole lot the state can do," he said.
Mosby has denied Hogan's allegation that she is too lenient. "I regret even having to respond to the likes of this governor. For the past seven years, just like Donald Trump, Larry Hogan has used Baltimore City as a punching bag," she said at a press conference last week.
As the end of the year approaches, Baltimore has seen over 300 homicides and more than 650 shootings that weren't deadly, according to figures provided by the city's police department. Even crimes not involving guns—like the stabbing of a longtime church employee—have shaken city residents.
Police have not announced any arrests or suspects in Sunday's shooting. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call police at 410-396-2433 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP.
