The Baltimore police announced one arrest and charges for two more teenagers with crimes related to the Brooklyn Day mass shooting that killed two and injured 28 others in early July. There are now four suspects in police custody with charges related to the incident, all of them are teenagers.
18 year-old Aaron Brown faces 75 charges, including seven counts of conspiracy to commit first degree murder and ten counts of attempted first degree murder, related to the mass shooting that took place on July 2nd at the Brooklyn Homes housing project in South Baltimore.
The fourteen year-old faces 18 charges that also include conspiracy to commit first degree murder, said acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley. He was arrested on Wednesday with the help of school police. Charging documents are unavailable for the minor due in accordance with state law. WYPR does not name minors charged with crimes.
Based on casings and ballistics identified on site, Worley said that police now believe as many as ten people may be responsible for the deadly carnage.
“These young people that we're discussing today made the wrong choice that ended lives and changed countless forever. As a result, they will be held accountable to the full extent of the law,” said Mayor Brandon Scott as he addressed reporters from the glass atrium of the downtown BPD headquarters.
Mayor Brandon Scott called the Brooklyn Day shooting a “horrific” act of violence that “devastated dozens” of people and “Baltimore City as a whole.”
Brown was already in police custody on unrelated charges. Online court records show Brown has charges of attempted first degree murder, assault in the first degree and loaded handgun on person. During his incarceration, detectives learned enough information to secure a warrant to further investigate Brown’s involvement in the Brooklyn Homes shooting, said police in a news release.
Commissioner Worley said he expects more arrests related to the Brooklyn Day shooting are forthcoming.
“Reports of this investigation winding down are completely untrue and simply irresponsible,” he said.
“It's been two months, which is a long time. But as far as a long investigation, it isn't a long time. I know it was a mass shooting. But this is different than most of your other mass shootings,” said Worley, adding that many of those incidents have one or two suspects that are taken into custody shortly after the incident. “We have multiple.”
The news of the arrests came barely more than 24 hours after the Mayor’s office released an explosive report that showed multiple times that police were “indifferent” to concerns about the Brooklyn Day party before the shooting began. Police repeatedly chose not to escalate concerns up the chain of command or deploy resources to the area as crowds swelled upwards of 800 people. Worley said yesterday that disciplinary measures have already begun for offending officers.
The state's attorney Ivan Bates could not say on Thursday afternoon if the fourteen year-old would be tried as an adult. Information regarding legal representation for either teenager was not available as of the time this story was published.
