Two People Killed and 28 Others Injured in Shooting in Baltimore, Majority of Victims Under 18 Years Old

Illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Tony Webster)

JAKARTA - Another mass shooting shook the United States, when two people died and 28 others were injured, the majority of the victims being children, during a party held in the Brooklyn Homes South Baltimore area, Baltimore, Maryland, around 12:35 p.m. local time Sunday .

The two victims who died as a result of the shooting were identified by police as an 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man.

As of Sunday afternoon, nine other injured people were still being treated in hospital, some of them listed in critical condition, police told reporters, citing Reuters, July 3.

Of the 28 survivors who were injured, an estimated 14 were under the age of 18, said Richard Worley, acting commissioner for the Baltimore Police Department, noting that they were still trying to determine the age of the victims.

Meanwhile, Baltimore television station WBAL-TV, an NBC affiliate, reported the ages of those injured ranging from 13 to 32 years.

The shooting likely tops Baltimore's largest act of gun violence in terms of casualty numbers since 2014, according to the Baltimore Sun newspaper, citing the earliest data held by the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive.

Worley said police were looking for several suspects, urging the public to provide any information or video that could help investigators identify the perpetrators.

"We know for sure there is more than one. We don't know how many (suspects) there are," Worley said.

A resident of the neighborhood, Terry Brown, told the Baltimore Sun he was standing outside his home when gunshots rang out, followed by a rush of people fleeing in panic for cover.

"It was chaos," said Brown.

"Parents were running for their children, screaming and screaming, and did not know if their child had been hit by a bullet," he said.

Meanwhile, a witness interviewed by the Fox 45 television station said he heard 20 to 30 shots.

Separately, Mayor Brandon Scott called the shooting "reckless and cowardly," vowing those responsible would be brought to justice.

"We will not rest until we find you, and we will find you," he said.

The tragedy rocked Baltimore, the most populous city in Maryland, 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Washington D.C., at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend, a time when Americans usually gather for parades, barbecues and fireworks.