1 dead, 6 hurt after illegal car meet-up turned violent in Maryland

One person was killed, and six others were injured after a shooting during an illegal car meet-up in Columbia, Maryland, Howard County Police said Monday. 

Officers responded around 5:30 a.m. to a parking garage in the 6700 block of Alexander Bell Drive, where police said multiple people were involved in a shootout. There were no guns recovered at the scene.

However, police arrived to find a man dead. He has been identified as 24-year-old Leo Noel Balladares-Arita, of Falls Church, Virginia. 

A woman was also taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said. 

During the next several hours, hospitals in the area reported four walk-in shooting victims who are believed to be tied to the incident in the parking garage, according to police. 

Police said a seventh victim walked into a Virginia hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound that is believed to be related to the Columbia incident. 

The injured victims include three 20-year-old men, a 19-year-old woman, an 18-year-old man, and a 16-year-old girl. One person is listed in critical condition, while the other five victims' injuries appear to be non-life-threatening. 

"It's been somewhat chaotic, because we've got victims and multiple witnesses at the scene," said Howard County Police spokesperson Sherry Llewellyn. "We've got victims and multiple witnesses at various hospitals, right? So we've got detectives and officers deployed."

Detectives believe as many as 50 people participated in the illegal car meet-up, and all know each other. The department believes many of them traveled to Howard County from Virginia, and they are not from Howard County. 

Police say the parking garage does not have security cameras and no guns were recovered at the scene. 

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 410-313-STOP or HCPDcrimetips@howardcountymd.gov.

Virginia residents involved in Maryland car rallies

Police said that as many as 50 people were at the illegal car rally, and most of them were believed to be from the Fairfax, Virginia area.

Howard County Police said illegal car rallies are down by 66%. Investigators monitor social media to find out when and where the rallies will be held, but police said the Howard County car rally wasn't on their radar.

"This was a situation where we did not have that kind of head that kind of heads up, but we work very closely as part of the Maryland Car Rally Task Force," Llewellyn said.

The Howard County Police Department said groups are coming to Maryland for these car rallies because Virginia has stricter laws.

"Sounds like some of the groups that do these kinds of car rallies have been pushed out outside of Virginia, and that's why we're starting to see them here," Llewellyn said.

Jimmy Hedgespeth said he used to participate in car meet-ups to show off his Mustang. He said they are too dangerous now.

"Car rallies used to be about meeting people, talking to car shop. Now it's just about doing donuts and acting up, and people still in cars," Hedgespeth said. "It's just out of hand."

Illegal car rallies in Maryland

This is not the first time police have cracked down on illegal car rallies and races in Maryland.

In February, two men from Pennsylvania were arrested after an illegal car rally in Prince George's County, Maryland. A gun and ammunition were found in the car during the arrest. 

In January, five people, including four teens, were arrested for having loaded guns after multiple illegal car rallies were broken up across several Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard and Prince George's counties, police said. 

In June 2024, Maryland passed a law making exhibition driving and street racing illegal, and launching the Maryland Car Rally Task Force.

"They need to stiffen those laws if that's the type of behavior that's going to migrate here for something that's supposed to be fun, that turns into murder and massacres," Howard County resident Timothy Small said.