UMD Medical School Employee Critical After Shot In Face, Buttocks
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A 24-year-old medical school employee was shot in the face and the buttocks outside Shock Trauma Monday morning.
As of Monday night, the victim was listed as critical but stable.
The gunman in shooting of UMD Medical School employee identified as Jamar Haughton, 26-years-old, of the 900 block of Lemmon Street.
Haughton smiled in the mugshot police released early Monday evening.
He is being charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and several firearms related charges.
He is currently being held at the Central Booking and Intake Facility.
According to Baltimore Police, officers responded to the University of Maryland Medical Center in the 600 block of West Redwood Street for a report of a shooting around 7:15 a.m.
In dispatch recordings, you can hear a responder saying, "Send in a medic unit and an EMS supervisor to the entrance to Shock Trauma. We've just had somebody get shot."
They found the man suffering from two gunshot wounds. He was shot near the medical school, then taken across the street to the hospital for treatment.
No bystanders were injured and the suspect was quickly arrested.
The victim is on life support.
"This one is as close to home as it's ever been," said Dr. Scalea with Shock Trauma.
University of Maryland Police did take a 26-year-old man into custody. They also recovered a gun.
The suspect knew the victim, however details about a motive was not immediately available.
A hospital spokeswoman said the hospital is functioning as normal after a brief lockdown.
"At approximately 7 am this morning, there was a shooting outside of the hospital. The suspect was apprehended. We are still gathering information at this time. The hospital is functioning as normal. For more information, please contact the Baltimore City Police," the hospital said in a statement.
Officials gave an update on the shooting and said the man shot was not a surgeon, but instead a medical school employee.
"I've been doing this a long time. I've done way too many of these things with you guys. This is close to home as it has ever been," said Dr. Thomas Scalea, who heads the trauma center. "We're still in there still doing the best we can and will do that this afternoon, tonight and today from here on forward."
Dr. Scalea initially said the victim was on life support. Police told WJZ he was shot in the face and the buttocks.
"He is critically ill… We are—of course—quite hopeful everything will be OK, but it is way too early to tell at this point," Dr. Scalea said.
Police activity outside of the University of Maryland Medical Center caused Eastbound Baltimore St. to close from Martin Luther King Blvd. to Greene St. It was reopened around 8:50 a.m.
Baltimore city police set up a command post in the area to investigate.
University of Maryland Police chased down the 26-year-old suspect Jamar Haughton and arrested him a short distance from the medical campus.
They said they recovered a loaded handgun used in the crime.
Police are still investigating the motive but tell WJZ the suspect knew the victim.
"The full extent of that relationship will come out. We just know that there is a known acquaintance relationship. To what extent, we do not know," said Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Jones of the Baltimore City Police Department.
"The incident was an isolated event," Jones said. "At no time was the general public at risk."
Jennifer Hackney walks around the medical campus twice a week during treatments for her young son. "It's scary. I heard about it and held my son. I'm just glad we weren't hurt."
Baltimore hospitals have not been immune to violence. Last year after a shootout, police pursued people to the Wolfe Street entrance of Johns Hopkins Hospital.
1 Injured, 2 In Custody After 3 Involved In Shootout Drive To Hopkins Hospital
In 2010, a man upset over his mother's diagnosis shot and injured the doctor before shooting and killing his mother and then himself. That incident also happened at Hopkins.
Panel Reviews Hopkins Security After Shooting
A Hopkins doctor recently spoke to WJZ about the impact of gun violence on Baltimore.
Dr. Scalea said Shock Trauma kept serving the community through Monday's tragedy. "At no point were we out of business. We remained open and ready to take care of anybody else that needed our services."
Citywide Shooting are investigating this incident and asking anyone with information to contact them at 410-396-2221.
This is a developing story. Stay with WJZ for updates.
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