Police investigating biker group involvement in East Baltimore mass shooting that killed 1, wounded 7

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/08/18/baltimore-shootings-sunday-eastern-district-oliver/

Investigators are “looking to see” whether a biker group was involved in a Sunday evening mass shooting in East Baltimore where eight people were shot, one fatally, a Baltimore Police spokesperson said.

Residents of Oliver, a neighborhood they described as usually being quiet and peaceful, expressed shock Monday morning as investigators combed through evidence in a wide crime scene that included a small park and an alley.

But they noted the crime scene, the area of Calvin B. Scruggs Sr. Park and North Spring Street, recently has been the site of rowdy weekend gatherings — a source of tension between residents and groups of motorcycle enthusiasts who frequent the area.

Police responded to a noise complaint about a motorcycle group blocking nearby North Caroline Street, near where it intersects North Spring Street, less than an hour before the first reports of a shooting came across their radio system Sunday night, according to archived dispatch audio. A police spokesperson said the officer responding to that noise complaint was unable to find anything obstructing the road or any loud music playing.

But chaos erupted around 8 p.m., when officers were called to the 1300 block of North Spring Street to respond to the reports of gunfire.

Anthony Martin, 36, was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead, police said.

Other victims include a 41-year-old woman and men aged 21, 23, 39, 40, 45 and 46. The seven who survived were all in stable condition, police said Monday afternoon. Spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said four victims were taken to hospitals by medics on the scene, while four other walked into hospitals with gunshot wounds.

Archived police audio shows officers scrambling to find everyone who had been shot. An early report was three “down,” then two other victims were discovered at a location nearby on North Central Avenue.

One officer called over the radio for officers responding to the scene to search the surrounding streets for any additional victims. At that point, police reported to dispatch that there were five victims. Another officer later radioed in that there were six total, three taken to the hospital and three being worked on. The two victims from North Central Avenue brought the total to eight victims.

Officers found several firearms at the scene, and believe multiple people fired, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said in a media briefing late Sunday night.

Police taped off the Spring Street crime scene through pouring rain adjacent to the park, just north of a funeral home also bearing Scruggs’ name. Police searched for evidence behind metal bleachers alongside a basketball court Sunday night. Dr. Bernard Harris Sr. Elementary School is across the park from the crime scene.

Police blocked off a section of North Caroline Street on Monday morning as they looked for evidence on the wide scene, at one point leading a police dog to sniff underneath a van.

Police had not given any further information as of Monday afternoon about what type of gathering was happening when shots rang out.

Several residents said that some in the neighborhood were trying to do something about loud weekend gatherings — often involving motorcycle groups who hang out near the park.

“The community’s been trying to get something done about the racket that they make,” said Tim Jackson, who has lived in Oliver for roughly six years. “Other than that, it’s peace and quiet” in Oliver, he said.

“It’s a good neighborhood,” said Howard Ghee, who was working on his car Monday morning.

The only commotion, he said, comes when groups hold large gatherings by the park’s basketball court. Sometimes there’s alcohol involved, and eventually “one thing leads to another,” he said.

Tim Cooley, from Northeast Baltimore’s Cedonia neighborhood, stopped by the scene Monday morning — the 41-year-old woman injured in the shooting was his friend’s daughter, he said. She had gone with her boyfriend to join friends for some basketball, as they usually do on weekends.

“Usually, it’s all friends,” said Cooley, noting that he visited her in the hospital and she was doing OK.

“I can’t believe it, I mean, this is not a bad neighborhood,” he said.

Christina Kilby, who has lived near the park for three years, said most people in Oliver keep to themselves.

“It sounded like weird thunder,” she said of what she eventually found out was gunfire. “I’m just shocked, especially when it’s right at our house.”