Baltimore County Police Investigating Shots Fired In Downtown Towson
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- An early morning shooting in the heart of Towson is under investigation.
Baltimore County police were able to quickly make an arrest while working patrols in the entertainment district.
Police now tell WJZ a man who had been treated for gun shot wounds at a nearby hospital is not connected to this incident.
They had been investigating a potential connection.
Officers were in the 500 block of York Road around 1:45 a.m. on Sunday, when they observed a group of people who were involved in a physical altercation, according to authorities. One of the people involved in the fight pulled out a gun and started shooting.
"We just heard gunshots, then all the bouncers started screaming, like, 'Get inside,' and everyone was running back into the theater, Alec Goldfaden of Towson told WJZ.
Goldfaden was attending an event in the Towson entertainment district with friends when the night took a scary turn.
"Initially, I was really scared," he said. "But once I got inside, I honestly felt pretty safe and we were hiding behind a wall. A bunch of people were there and all the doors were locked and I saw cops and stuff."
Officers chased and apprehended that person whom they later identified as 23-year-old Nicholas Taylor.
"Officers with BCPD were on high visibility patrol along Towson's entertainment district where they then heard the sound of gunfire," Baltimore County Police Department Detective John Connor said.
Taylor is being held without bond at the Baltimore County Detention Center, police said.
The arrest comes just as Towson University is trying to bolster police presence in downtown Towson with a grant.
University staff initially declined to disclose the amount of the grant.
The grant funding comes on the heels of an uptick in shootings and crime in Towson over the span of a year.
"Last semester I feel like I was always getting updates about a shooting, a robbery, an assault," Mel Gabel, a junior at Towson University, told WJZ.
"I just think it won't make much of a difference honestly," junior Laura Hopkins said. "I think uptown already has a bunch of cops that that just chill there and it doesn't seem like they were doing much to begin with."
In early January, 23-year-old Towson University student Ikemefuna Eguh was shot and killed in the unit block of West Susquehanna Avenue. Eguh was enrolled at Towson University as a senior when he was killed, according to university staff.
Not long after that, detectives began looking into a shooting that occurred inside of an apartment building tailored toward Towson University students. About two weeks later, county officers learned there had been a shooting on the fourth floor of Altus Towson Row on West Susquehanna Avenue around 10:30 p.m.
Officers found several shell casings but no gunshot victims.
In November 2021, a Morgan State University Student was shot and killed on Kenilworth Drive in Towson after a suspected drug deal.
In September of 2021, three people, including a student, were shot at a non-sanctioned gathering on Towson University's campus. Videos posted on social media showed a large group of people gathered at Freedom Square overnight near the academic buildings. A Towson University officer was suspended in the aftermath of the triple shooting.
Towson's spring semester started on Jan. 31.