Baltimore Sun May 29, 2001

12 shot at city block party Event was held to remember fallen gang member; two victims treated and released

By Lynn Anderson and Michael Stroh It was a "Rest In Peace" block party, thrown to remember a fallen gang member, but it ended in gunfire, with 12 people lying wounded along the pavement on East North Avenue and Baltimore police struggling to figure out what happened.

At least two assailants fired their guns into a packed party at 2032 E. North Ave. at about 10 o'clock last night, just an hour after police had visited the scene in an attempt to disperse the crowd, which had grown to about 100, police and witnesses said.

Six victims were taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday morning that one was in critical condition and five were in fair and stable condition.

The other six victims were transported to The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where a spokeswoman said Tuesday morning that one was in critical condition, two were in fair condition, one was in good condition and two were treated and released.

By 10:30 last night, police had roped off three blocks near Chester Street in the largest shooting any of them could remember in years. Ten ambulances were called to transport five males, the youngest a 14-year old boy, and six females, said Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris. Police did not release the identities of the 11 victims last night.

In all, police said, more than 40 shots were fired. "They fired right into the crowd," said Norris. Police believe the shooters were dropped off down the block from the party, at Chester Street and North Avenue. After spraying bullets from about 60 feet away into a white tent used by the revelers, the shooters may have escaped in the same car, police said.

The party had been organized to remember 22-year-old Keith "Bone" Hamlet, who had been fatally shot last November at his home in the 2000 block of E. North Ave. Police later charged Tavon Dixon, 20, in that shooting.

The party was organized by Hamlet's family and friends. Sharon Evans, Hamlet's mother, obtained a permit for the party, which was supposed to last from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m, according to police.

Organizers erected the tent, decorating it with balloons. By 8:30 p.m., police visited the scene to disperse the crowd, many of whom continued to linger.

The party was held in front of a two-story rowhouse where police said other shootings have occurred recently.

"I came around earlier, and they were having a good time," said John Wise, 50, who lives around the corner on Chester Street. "I came back and there were people lying on the sidewalk."

Police say they do not know whether the shooting is gang-related and they have no leads on suspects.

But the neighborhood, around Chester Street between North and Lafayette avenues, said residents, has been a battleground, as rival gang members battle for control of the popular drug-peddling turf. "People know who did this, but they are not going to say who did it," said one woman who lives in the area, who like many residents interviewed was reluctant to give her name.

"This is hard, this is genocide," said Robert Silver, 37, as he surveyed the scene. "The crime rate needs to go down; [Mayor Martin] O'Malley is doing OK, but apparently he's not doing good enough."

-- (Paracelsus@Pb.Au), May 29, 2001

Answers

YOU AIN,T SEEN NUTHIN YET!!!!!! IT,S GONNA GET WORSE..

-- al-d. (dogs@zianet.com), May 29, 2001.

Well, I guess things haven't really changed much in the last 30 years...

My mother grew up in within 3 blocks of that spot. My Grandparents lived and worked there all of their lives. My Grandfather was an Italian immigrant, and owned a fruit and vegetable stall in the Northeast Market. He would get up at 2:30 am every morning, walk to the market, pick up his truck, and make the rounds to the outlying farms to pick up produce to sell later in the morning. I can remember many happy times playing in that market, with my brothers and sisters. My Grandmother usually took the "late shift", while my Granddad went home to sleep before his next farm run.

Gradually, the neighborhood changed. I was too young to understand those changes at the time.

Then, in '71, my Granddad was killed. Murdered by a gang of thugs. The oldest was 17. It was on the corner of Monument and Madison St., 1 block from Johns Hopkins Hospital. They were after his gas money. It was later determined to be no more that about $3 in his pocket. He made the mistake of trying to resist. He was shot in the throat, and though he called for help, no one from the nearby row houses came. They were too afraid. Someone did call for an ambulance, but by that time he had bled to death. He had apparently crawled about half of a city block before dying. His murder made the headlines because he was the 200th murder of the year for the city of Baltimore (and it was only August).

My Grandmother lived there for another 9 years, until her death from cancer. She would not leave, this was here home, but the neighborhood continued to get worse. She refused to recognize the danger she was placing herself in (and us, when we visited her). Damned stubborn pride.

I was a research assistant at Johns Hopkins in the early '80s, and my job often took me to that neighborhood. Within one block of JH, the drug dealers dealt openly, without fear. North Avenue has always been "rough", but now, well, it has made the national news for lethality.

BTW, this is the same neighborhood depicted in Tom Clancy's novel "Without Remorse." I've read this book only once, but I can tell you, that was exactly the way things were at the time. He captured a truth. As I said, some things haven't changed…

-- Verdoctor (Verdoctor@No.Way), May 29, 2001.

Doc--

Sorry to hear of your grandfather's sad end.

There was a miniseries on HBO last year called "The Corner". Set in a very rough neighborhood in today's Baltimore. Well done but a downer.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), May 30, 2001.

Thanks Lars,

I started to watch it, but couldn't see it through. Even after all this time, it brought back too many memories of my grandmothers' and mothers' grief (such an inadequate word: grief) of those times. I haven't been back to that area for nearly 20 years.

There is some justice in the story, though. One of my younger sisters, too young to clearly remember those times, is now an Assistant D.A. for that same district. She is as tough as nails, and the present story notwithstanding, I hear she is helping to make a difference. Her husband is a Public Defender, but that is another story…

-- Verdoctor (Verdoctor@No.Way), May 30, 2001.

This particular neighborhood in Baltimore can be found in every metropolitan area of the United States. The common denominator, in most cases, is the demographics……black or Hispanic.

I know, what a terribly racist thing to say but folks this is the reality that we must live with.

You think you have an answer?

Bring it on.

-- Lay Down (on@the.couch), May 31, 2001.

The answer is to legalize drugs.

-- (libertarian@mind.set), May 31, 2001.