At least two people are dead and 28 injured in a mass shooting during a Baltimore block party, officials said.
According to police, an 18-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. The second victim, a 20-year-old, was pronounced dead at a hospital. Neither has been identified.
Three of the injured are listed in critical condition. MedStar Health Central Maryland regional spokesperson Debra Schindler confirmed in a written statement to NBC News that 19 people were taken to the emergency department at MedStar Harbor Hospital.
Nine of the victims were transferred to other area trauma centers, and all but one patient has been released. The University of Maryland Medical Center said in a statement that 12 patients were being treated in their trauma center, and four more were in the pediatric emergency department.
Police said they first received calls for a shooting around 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning. According to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, it happened during a block party in the city’s Brooklyn Homes neighborhood.
“It is a neighborhood that has had its troubles, but a neighborhood that has seen some folks in that community really determined to see it be successful and see things turn around,” he said. He told CNN reporters the neighborhood is working-class and filled with “immense pride.”
Scott described the shooting as a “reckless, cowardly act that happened here and that has permanently altered many lives and cost two people their lives.”
Baltimore Police Acting Commissioner Richard Worley said investigators have not yet identified suspects or a motive at this time. They were working through “an extensive crime scene,” he said.
