Baltimore boxing club mourns featherweight boxer killed in mass shooting
BALTIMORE -- Junior featherweight boxer Ernest Hall was killed during a mass shooting in West Baltimore on Thursday.
Five other people were injured during the early morning shooting.
A 15-year-old boy, a 24-year-old man, a 21-year-old man, an 18-year-old man and a 22-year-old man were also shot. The 24-year-old victim was hospitalized in critical condition, while the others were listed in stable condition.
Baltimore City Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said a vehicle stopped at the location and multiple shooters exited the vehicle before firing gunshots indiscriminately into a crowd of people.
Afterward, the shooters allegedly got back into their vehicle and fled the scene. Police said on Thursday that they did not have a description of the vehicle.
Hall was a 33-year-old father of three who was preparing to participate in a fight next weekend.
Hall's former manager, Jake Smith owns a gym called the Baltimore Boxing Club.
Smith said he was saddened by the passing of Hall, who ran his gym.
"I hope they find the people who did it," Smith said. "I mean, the streets are just killing everybody up right now. It's hard. It's hard to walk out on the streets anymore."
Mayor Brandon Scott sent his condolences to Hall's family and those injured earlier this week.
Scott said progress is being made with "homicides and shootings being down, but we still have so much work to do."
Hall was beloved and that his death will reverberate through the boxing gym, Smith said.
"We all love you Ernest. We love you, man. I love you," he said. "My heart is broken. This just should not have happened to a person like him. God needs somebody up there like him right now. That's the only reason he's gone. I love you Ernest."
Smith said that Hall's funeral will be held at the Joseph H. Brown Funeral Home on April 7.
