Dispatch audio paints clearer picture of police response during South Baltimore mass shooting
BALTIMORE - Police continue to search for the suspects responsible for shooting 30 people, killing two, at a block party last weekend in South Baltimore's Brooklyn Homes community.
WJZ obtained dispatch audio from the night of the mass shooting that shows how officers responded to the chaotic scene.
Acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley said detectives are reviewing hours of surveillance video to get a clearer picture of the people who ruined the annual community event.
Police said 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez and 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi died in the shooting, while 28 others between the ages of 13 to 32 were injured by the gunfire.
The audio was taken about two hours before the shooting started.
In it, officers can be heard talking about how large of a crowd there was and that people were calling in concerned about weapons.
"It's going to be hard because it looks like I have 800-900 people out here," dispatch audio said.
Dispatch audio revealed new details about the hours leading up to the shooting when many teenagers were wounded, including two 13-year-olds.
Police said they didn't know about the block party ahead of time because it was not a permitted event.
But according to the audio, police got calls that night about hundreds of people outside and that some of them were armed.
"They didn't give a description they just said everybody has a gun or a knife," audio dispatch said.
At one point, a call came in alerting police to possible gunshots.
"I'm getting a 10-31 discharging a firearm, 815 Herndon Court," according to audio dispatch. "People shooting and fighting at the location."
Later on, you also hear dispatchers communicating with Baltimore Police Department's helicopter who said there was no danger at the time.
"We got a call for discharging in the area? Anything look suspicious?" a responder asked.
"No. Negative. You have a lot of fireworks being discharged," a person responded. "They're actually still going off right now but as far as the group that's down at the Brooklyn Homes appears to be normal right now. Just walking around, hanging out."
Baltimore Police say there are no new updates in the case just yet.
However, they are looking for more than two shooters.
Worley told WJZ on Wednesday that investigators are combing through hours of video.
"We do have some leads," Worley said. "We just can't reveal those yet because we're trying to identify who's on camera."
Anyone with tips or and video from that night is asked to call police.
There is a $28,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
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