1 Killed, At Least 6 Wounded In Shooting During Cookout Outside Church

Baltimore, MD – One person was fatally shot, and at least six others were wounded, when a man opened fire on a group of people holding a cookout outside a Baltimore church on Sunday.

A manhunt is underway for the gunman, who fled the scene prior to officers’ arrival, according to the Associated Press.

The incident occurred near Perkins Square Baptist Church in the 2500-block of Edmondson Avenue just after 5 p.m., Heavy reported.

Two groups of people were holding cookouts on either side of Whitmore Avenue, when the black gunman approached and randomly fired into both crowds, Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said, according to WMAR.

One male victim collapsed behind the church, and was pronounced dead at the scene, the Associated Press reported.

A 30-year-old woman and five men, ranging in age from 27 to 58, were transported to local hospitals with gunshot wounds.

Their injuries were not considered to be life-threatening, WMAR reported.

“There could be other individuals who were injured who may show up at the hospital,” Commissioner Harrison said, according to WBAL.

Investigators found shell locations at two separate locations, and believe that someone may have returned fire at the gunman, or that there may have been a second shooter, the Associated Press reported.

Later Sunday evening, a police spokesperson said that another male victim was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg.

Investigators later determined that the victim in that shooting incident was unrelated to the mass shooting at the cookout, WMAR reported.

Commissioner Harrison said that the attack was “a very tragic, very cowardly shooting,” the Associated Press reported.

He did not release a possible motive for the incident, but noted that it appeared to be “extremely targeted.”

“It wasn’t anything dealing with the church. I want to make that very clear,” Baltimore Acting Mayor Jack Young said during the press conference.

Young and Commissioner Harrison sad they need the community’s help in order to identify and locate those responsible for the attack.

“Someone knows something,” Young said. “These things…they don’t happen by happenstance. People know who’s doing these shootings.”

“For people not to come forward and say who has done this, looking for retaliation, that’s not the way to go,” he added, according to WMAR.

“What we need now is for the people to have the same resilience and the same tenacity to go after him like he came after the people here today,” Commissioner Harrison said.