BALTIMORE — The treelined block of Braddish Avenue just North of North Avenue is stable, quiet, so when Henry Smith heard it — he knew it.
“Yeah. I heard one gun shot.”
Police say it was 2:46 p.m. Wednesday when gunfire rang out.
Audrey Wood and Veta Hall sit on their steps often; they say the violence has been creeping closer.
“We sit here every day. We sit here every day...and it was right there,” Wood said.
“Yeah then I called my girlfriend to see if it was anybody that we knew,” said Hall, “But it's a shame. We be sitting right here all the time.”
The two friends didn't know the young man — but many did.
Baltimore Police say the murder victim is David Mackall Jr.
Mackall is a former Edmonson High School standout linebacker who was recruited by the the University of Maryland football program back in 2011. He would later transfer to the University of Delaware.
But beyond college ball — Mackall left an impression.
“Just a fun-loving kid. Playful, on and off the field,” said his former teacher Linnea Lopez.
Lopez is the science department head at Edmonson High School.
She remembers when the Terps came to watch him play against Poly — but more so she knew Mackall as a leader.
Edmonson has lost more than their fair share of students to violence she said — but she's been getting a lot of calls about her former student who helped inspire others.
“He would do the study halls and get the kids motivated, the boys on the field, they all really loved him,” Lopez said, “I've been getting a lot of calls from kids who have heard what happened and are reaching out, so I am just trying to help them through that and ya know, giving them some comfort.”
Part of that may come with an arrest or an explanation as to why Mackall was shot and killed yesterday afternoon.
So far, Baltimore Police would provide no further details on the case.
