'This Is A War Zone' | 17 Shot In Weekend Violence In Baltimore, Including 2-Year-Old
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It was another violent weekend in Baltimore, with 17 people getting shot, including a two-year-old boy.
Monday, police announced an arrest in the boy's shooting. Javon Johnson, 33, faces attempted murder and weapons charges in the case.
Police said Johnson was inside a minivan when he opened fire, upset that someone honked at him.
33-Year-Old Javon Johnson Charged In Road Rage Shooting Of 2-Year-Old Boy In Baltimore
The toddler was shot in the stomach and continues to recover from his injuries. It happened in the 600 block of West Franklin, about two blocks from Lexington Market, just after midnight Saturday.
"Whoever you thought you were shooting at, you did not shoot. You shot a child," said Police Commissioner Michael Harrison on Saturday. "This is a coward who fired out of his car into another car indiscriminately."
Johnson has a lengthy record that includes child abuse, assault, and use of a deadly weapon charges that were placed on an inactive docket earlier this year. He also has a probation violation stemming from an assault four years ago.
The little boy he's accused of shooting was one of 17 people shot over the weekend in Baltimore. Four of the victims died.
Police identified those who lost their lives as 17-year-old Daurron Scott, 20-year-old Deonte Taylor, 25-year-old James Thompson and Antwan Conley, 46.
Victory Swift knows the pain. Her 19-year-old son Victorious was murdered two years ago.
"This is a theft. These people are stealing our children's lives," Swift said. "Even those people whose close family members are not murdered are still affected because they live in a city where this has become the norm."
Swift keeps her son's ashes with her as a reminder of the need for change. "This is a war zone," she says of Baltimore's violence. "None of us escapes this trauma."
