Five people hospitalized after 'brazen' shooting in Downtown Baltimore

BALTIMORE — An argument on Friday afternoon ended with gunfire and five people shot on the western edge of downtown Baltimore, not far from Lexington Market. 

The shooting unfolded just after 3:30 p.m. on Eutaw Street near Saratoga Street.

On dispatch recordings, first responders and police at the scene describe each gunshot victim's injuries and a fifth gunshot victim who walked into Shock Trauma. 

Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison described the gun violence as "brazen."

"They are not afraid of arrest and jail and they are not afraid of dying," he said. "And when you have people like that, they will commit very, very violent and brazen acts. It speaks to the culture that we are all working to change." 

He stood in front of a police cruiser that stopped at a red light. The officer was changing shifts and Harrison said he heard the gunfire. Police said multiple officers were in the area at the time. 

"There was an officer who had been here all day," Harrison said. "The officers here in the car right behind me were here to relieve him and while at the red light, they jumped right into action."

Many who witnessed the shooting were scared to go on camera but expressed outrage that bystanders were injured by gunfire.

The commissioner said only one victim was the intended target and urged people to come forward with tips. 

"We like to do all we can to deter people," the commissioner told WJZ. "We have to deter people through consequences: Making sure people know if they do this they will get caught." 

He said officers had been reviewing video of the shooting but had no immediate description of the suspect who fled south on Eutaw Street. 

The victims—38, 41, 55, 58, and 63—are all expected to survive. 

Fannie Craft who was visiting Baltimore expressed shock at the violence and hope for an end to the bloodshed.

"I'm frightened too for my own safety because if that's five blocks away, what can happen where we're at," Craft said.

Since Thursday, at least 13 people have been shot in Baltimore City including a quadruple shooting in Northeast Baltimore just before 11 p.m. on Thursday. 

Police are urging anyone with information to call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-Lockup.  

"With officers less than 50 or 60 feet away, for someone to enact a very violent act, it says a lot about that person," Harrison said.