Two killed, dozens wounded in Baltimore mass shooting: police

WASHINGTON: At least two people were killed and 28 wounded in a mass shooting early Sunday in the US city of Baltimore, police said.

Police received multiple calls about a shooting just after 12:30 am Sunday (04:30 GMT) at a street party in the city’s Brooklyn neighborhood in Maryland state, Acting Police Commissioner Rich Worley said during a press conference.

“Upon officers’ arrival we located multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds,” Worley said.

One 18-year-old woman was found deceased at the scene, with a 20-year-old male victim also confirmed to have been killed, a police statement said.

The wounded victims were being treated at area hospitals, he added, with three of them in critical condition.

Worley said authorities were working to identify a suspect and determine a motive for the shooting.

“This is an extensive crime scene, our detectives are going to be here quite a while,” he said.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, speaking to reporters at the crime scene, condemned the shooting.

“This is an absolute tragedy that did not have to happen,” he said.

“It again highlights the impacts and the need to deal with the over-proliferation of illegal guns on our streets and the ability for those who should not have them to get their hands on them,” Scott said.

“We will not stop until we find those cowards who decided to just shoot dozens of people, causing two people to lose their lives,” he said.

With more firearms than inhabitants, the United States has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country — at least 44,357 in 2022, including 24,090 suicides, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA).

Sunday’s mass shooting was at least the 337th to occur this year, according to the GVA, which defines a “mass shooting” as a gun-related incident in which four or more people are wounded or killed.