2 more teens arrested in Baltimore block party mass shooting

BALTIMORE (AP) — Two more teenagers have been arrested in a mass shooting that left two people dead and 28 others injured during a Baltimore block party earlier this summer, authorities announced Thursday afternoon.

Police arrested Aaron Brown, 18, and a 14-year-old. Both face multiple charges, including attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, authorities said. Police had already arrested a teen charged with possessing a firearm during the shooting and another who they say shot into a crowd alongside Brown.

City leaders on Wednesday released a lengthy report detailing shortcomings in the police response to the shooting, which is likely the deadliest in Baltimore’s history.

The report found that officers and supervisors repeatedly ignored warnings about the crowd swelling to nearly 1,000 people, including some who appeared armed and disorderly, in the hours before the annual summer celebration in south Baltimore’s Brooklyn neighborhood devolved into terror and bloodshed. Most of the gunshot victims were teens and young adults.

“Yesterday, rightfully so, we were focused on accountability of city government and anyone who showed indifference to their duties during this incident,” Mayor Brandon Scott said at a Thursday afternoon news conference. “Today, we’re here to talk about accountability for the reckless individuals who decide to pick up a gun and start shooting.”

Brown told police he fired a handgun at a group of three people who were shooting at him, according to charging documents released Thursday. The papers don’t specify whether bullets from his gun injured anyone.

Brown, who’s charged with 68 counts, said he was shot in the hand while firing his weapon. He then started running away with another suspect, Tristan Jackson, who was arrested earlier this month, according to police. While they were fleeing, Jackson took the gun from the injured Brown and fired more shots, the documents say.

Brown was incarcerated on charges from an unrelated shooting case — which detectives linked him to earlier this month — when a search of his house yielded a gun that’s consistent with shell casings from the Brooklyn scene, court documents show.

Brown’s new charges aren’t yet listed in online court records and an entry for the prior case doesn’t list an attorney. Online court records also did not list an attorney for Jackson.

The 14-year-old’s name hasn’t been released because he’s underage, and details of the allegations against him weren’t immediately available. Officials said he was arrested at a school.

A fourth juvenile suspect was arrested last month and accused of possessing a firearm during the event. He was also one of the victims shot that night and hasn’t been charged with any act of violence. Detectives said he arrived at the Brooklyn Homes public housing complex with Brown, Jackson and another person; the same group left in a silver car shortly after the shooting, according to police.

None of the teens arrested to date have been charged with murder.

Acting Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said the investigation is ongoing and officers are actively trying to identify other known shooters — possibly 10 or more. He said detectives are using ballistic evidence to track them down.

Lea Skene, The Associated Press