What We Know—And Don’t—About Block Party Gunfire That Left 2 Dead And 28 Injured

Topline

A mass shooting at a holiday weekend block party in Baltimore left two young adults dead and another 28 people—including 15 children—injured early Sunday morning, but officials are still working to identify suspects and determine a motive for why a celebratory block party turned deadly.

Authorities are still looking for suspects responsible for a mass shooting in Baltimore Sunday that … [+] left two people dead and 28 injured.

Alex Wong/Getty

Key Facts

During a press conference Monday afternoon, acting Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said police have yet to make any arrests, but believe they are looking for at least two suspects, who used at least three guns in the attack.

Multiple weapons and bullet casings were recovered at the scene, Worley said Monday.

Police identified the deceased victims as Aaliyah Gonzalez, 18, and Kylis Fagbemi, 20.

The 28 surviving victims range in age from 13 to 32 years old and 15 of those victims were under 18, police said.

As of Monday afternoon, seven victims remain in the hospital, city officials said, with four of them in critical condition.

What We Don’t Know

The motive for the mass shooting remains unclear. Worley said investigators are working to determine if the shooting was targeted or “whether they were shooting indiscriminately up the street.” Police have also not named any suspects.

Big Number

$28,000. That’s how much authorities are offering in reward money for information leading to an arrest.

Key Background

Early Sunday morning, Baltimore police received multiple calls reporting a shooting at a block party celebration in the Brooklyn neighborhood. When police arrived, they found dozens of people shot. Of the 30 people shot, nine were transported to the hospital, 20 walked into area hospitals and one was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Contra

In the hours since the mass shooting, some Baltimoreans have been critical of the lack of police presence at the block party, an annual celebration of the Brooklyn neighborhood. Worley said there were “at least a couple hundred people” in attendance at Saturday’s event (that lasted into early Sunday morning). But the event was “unpermitted,” Worley said at Monday’s press conference, adding that no organizers had filed paperwork with the city. In past years, Worley said police knew when the annual celebration was set to take place so they could prepare for the large gathering. This year, however, police said they did not learn of the event until the day of “As far as I know no one notified BPD that Brooklyn Day was happening on July 1st,” Worley said.

Crucial Quote

“This was a reckless, cowardly act of violence that has taken two lives and altered many, many more,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. “This tragic incident is another glaring, unfortunate example of the deep issues of violence in Baltimore, in Maryland and this country and particularly gun violence.”

Surprising Fact

At least 340 mass shootings have happened in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as a shooting incident with four or more injuries or deaths.

Tangent

Holiday weekends, like July 4, tend to be deadlier than regular weekends in America when it comes to mass shootings. Last summer, over July 4 weekend, the country experienced a surge of mass shootings, including one that killed six people and injured 31 people during a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburbs.