Global Courant
A Baltimore resident and grandmother who helped a teenage girl shot at a weekend holiday block party said teens in her community use guns because it’s “all they know, and it’s sad.”
Charlene Bowie, 66, told the Associated Press she saw a huge crowd of mostly teenagers on Sunday just before the suspects opened fire, killing two and wounding 28 others.
“They had fun at first, but you know, kids… they started drinking and they got all out of line,” she said, referring to the young people at the party. “It hurts so much because they haven’t started living yet. They don’t even know what life is, they don’t know. All they know are weapons. That’s all they know, and that’s sad.’
Aaliyah Gonzalez, 18, and Kylis Fagbemi, 20, were identified by police as the two dead. The 28 injured victims ranged in age from 13 to 32, officials said, and more than half are under the age of 18.
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Resident Ashley Johnson speaks to Baltimore police officers about the mass shooting incident in Baltimore’s Southern District, Monday, July 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
Authorities continue to search for the suspects who opened fire at the party.
Bowie initially got involved when she called police and told her 15-year-old granddaughter to come in, she told the AP. She then heard gunshots and a bullet hit her air conditioner, causing a piece of it to break off and hit her granddaughter, whom she confirmed was not injured.
Bowie and her daughter were lying on the floor when she heard “banging on the door — boom, boom, boom, really loud,” she said.
“So I came down and got the door (and there was a) little girl on my doorstep, shot,” Bowie said.
A police officer moves a scooter in the area of a mass shooting incident in the South District of Baltimore, Sunday, July 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
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Bowie said she used a cloth from her house and tied a makeshift tourniquet around the girl’s leg and tried to keep her calm.
“I just kept talking to her so she wouldn’t freak out, you know,” Bowie explained.
Bowie told the AP it was particularly painful for her to learn that young people were killed in the shooting, as she lost her son, 19, and her grandson, 15, to gun violence in separate shootings.
A police officer stands in the area of a mass shooting incident in the Southern District of Baltimore, Sunday, July 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Sunday’s shooting is still under investigation after police spent hours combing a massive crime scene in the Brooklyn Homes area, which is in the southern part of the city.
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Police have not yet announced any arrests in the shooting Tuesday morning.
Richard Worley, acting Baltimore police commissioner, said it was not clear whether the shooting was targeted or random.
A person looks out the front door of a home as police tape surrounds the area of a mass shooting incident in the South District of Baltimore Sunday, July 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
He said police believe there were multiple gunmen at the event, which is held each July to celebrate the south Baltimore neighborhood.
“We don’t know exactly how many, but we do know that more than one person was shooting,” Worley said.
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Governor Wes Moore issued a response to the shooting, saying his “heart breaks for these victims, their families and the Baltimore community coping with the loss.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
