14-year-old dies after shooting in South Baltimore, police say
A 14-year-old boy died after a shooting in South Baltimore on Saturday afternoon, police said.
Police responded around 3 p.m. to the 2500 block of Washington Boulevard in the Morrell Park neighborhood for reports of the discharge of a weapon.
Michael Roland Hitchens III was shot about 10 minutes after he walked out of his home, his cousin told WJZ. At the scene, officers found the teen suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.
He was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
Hitchens' family said he was a good person who loved playing video games.
"He did nothing wrong and was a good boy," his cousin told WJZ. "He spent 99% of his time on his game, playing Fortnite. He truly didn't deserve this."
Police are investigating the shooting as a homicide.
Anyone with information is asked to call the police at 410-396-2100 or the Metro Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-866-7LOCKUP.
Neighbors say the shooting was at a liquor store
Security video obtained by WJZ shows people running after the shots were fired. The video shows people running toward the liquor store, where neighbors said the shooting happened.
A man who works on the block told WJZ he believes the teen was chased before being shot inside the liquor store.
"Everything went chaos, and we don't know what happened," Rubio said. "Basically, we just parked the car over here, and then I don't know where the police started, out of nowhere, a lot of police cars. I heard that it was a chase and just started shooting, and then out of nowhere, I guess they got whatever, got shot, got shot right in the liquor store."
Baltimore's crime
Within the past 12 months, 43 minors younger than 17 years old were shot in Baltimore City, which includes four deaths, according to the CBS News Gun Violence Tracker. In 2024, there were nine child deaths and 34 more injuries from gun violence.
That data has declined from 2023, when Baltimore police responded to 15 child deaths and 103 shootings involving children.
As of Monday, Dec. 15, police have responded to 131 homicides, compared to 181 at this point in 2024, and 301 non-fatal shootings in Baltimore.
Earlier this month, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott spoke about the city's 29.8% decrease in homicides and 25.2% decline in non-fatal shootings.
The mayor praised the city's Group Violence Reduction Strategy, which started in 2022, aimed at utilizing community partners in Baltimore to assist in slowing down violent crime.