'Bullets Have No Name': Neighbors Fearful, Pleading For Action After Northeast Baltimore Mass Shooting
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The president of the Gardenville community association said she feels lucky to be alive after a mass shooting on Plainfield Avenue just steps from her home Tuesday evening.
"I pulled into my driveway, and I heard the pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. I thought it was fireworks earlier and then said, 'No! That's gunfire,'" Patricia told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren.
She asked that we not use her last name for safety reasons.
"I was very, very upset and hurt," Patricia said. "I'm praying for the people and the families that are affected by this. I had just come down the street right before the shooting. I'm just thanking God that he spared my life because bullets have no name. Anyone could have gotten shot."
Police patrolling Plainfield Avenue in Northeast Baltimore after a mass shooting last night left neighbors frightened and frustrated. @wjz https://t.co/2VZhXGAv0Y pic.twitter.com/ajJlqM0ulM
— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) June 8, 2022
An unknown shooter approached the victims who were sitting outside a home in the 5500-block of Plainfield. Bullets struck four young men. An 18-year-old and a 22-year-old lost their lives. Another 18-year-old and a 23-year-old victim survived.
Baltimore police release names of recent homicide victims. The city has recorded 151 homicides so far this year compared to 142 at this time last year. There have been 294 non-fatal shootings up from 283 at this time in 2021. @wjz pic.twitter.com/a920J1iaD5
— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) June 8, 2022
"We have a very calm and quiet community. We leave our doors open like back in the day with no problems," Patricia said. "I'm hopeful that things will get better, but it's not going to happen overnight. And it's not going to take one person, two people. It's going to take a community. It's going to take the city to come together.
Three #BCFDEMS units have been called to the scene of multiple people suffering from apparent gun shot wounds in the 5500 blk Plainfield Av 21206 #Frankford. #BMORESBravest are providing medical care until they arrive. pic.twitter.com/cr3m9EpuJf
— Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734 (@BCFDL734) June 7, 2022
Her neighbor Thomas Deyo said he never remembers an incident this violent in his more than 40 years in the neighborhood. "The worst we've ever seen or heard is somebody breaking into a car. My message to city leaders is if they'd lock the criminals up and throw away the key, we'd have a lot less crime."
Less than an hour after the Plainfield mass shooting, gunfire erupted again in Northeast Baltimore on Chesterfield Avenue in Bel Air-Edison. Three men were shot. One of them, 19-year-old Brian Jones, died.
No arrests have been made in any of the cases.
ATF Special Agent in Charge Crosby joins BPD leaders to speak with Southwest district @BaltimorePolice officers at roll call about importance of #CrimeGunIntel, esp. on patrol. Recovered shell casings at crime scenes are critical to making connections between shootings with NIBIN pic.twitter.com/MW12Hk5C60
— ATF Baltimore (@ATFBaltimore) June 8, 2022
The violence unfolded as the city council grilled the commissioner over his response to the bloodshed gripping the city.
Another shooting on Tuesday left a man dead in Carrollton Ridge. It was the third homicide in that Southwest Baltimore community in less than one week.
3 Murders In Less Than A Week: Residents of Baltimore Neighborhood Plead For Help As Violence Surges https://t.co/FE7nAP92oh @wjz
— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) June 8, 2022