BALTIMORE — Baltimore Police are investigating after five high school students were shot Wednesday morning outside the Popeyes at Edmondson Village Shopping Center.
Commissioner Michael Harrison said two unidentified shooters opened fire on the group as they were gathered during lunch time, outside the restaurant across from Edmondson West Side High School.
One victim, identified as 16-year-old Deanta Dorsey, died. The others, each of whom are between 17 and 18 are currently hospitalized. The school system said their families were notified.
Detectives don't believe the shooting was connected to any school related confrontation.
"People are dying over stupid stuff. People are dying because oh someone left me and now they have a new boyfriend and I seen a picture of them on Instagram," Mayor Brandon Scott said. "No one should die over that, we should be able to resolve our conflict in a different way, we shouldn't be so weak that when we have a basic dispute we're going to take someone's life or pull out a gun because we feel disrespected."
Although it occurred off campus, the incident prompted the school to be placed on temporary lockdown. Dismissal however still went on at the normal time of 2:50pm.
UPDATE: Students will be released at the normal dismissal time, 2:50. All after school and sports activities for this afternoon (January, 4) at Edmondson-Westside have been canceled. Families of the five students have been notified. https://t.co/VJslYEMAFA
— Baltimore City Public Schools (@BaltCitySchools) January 4, 2023
One parent we spoke to expressed sadness.
"I get here, I see four children on the ground. I see one that [was] bleeding profusely and all I could do was just cry," Nicole Robinson, a parent, said. "At that very moment, I couldn't even enjoy the comfort of knowing my son was okay, because someone's son was not."
Recently there have been calls to renovate the shopping center as ongoing complaints of crime persist.
Harrison said a patrol officer had checked on the location just a few minutes before shots rang out.
"This is the Edmondson Village Shopping Center right? So as long as I've been alive the Edmondson Village Shopping Center has been a hot spot," Scott said. "[Police] are where they're supposed to be but they can't be here 24/7 - 365, it's just impossible for them to do."
In a statement to WMAR Baltimore City Schools said "no student has permission to leave campus during school hours without prior approval."
Scott added that the Popeyes had been cited in the past for serving students during school hours.
"The businesses have to be partners," said Councilman Kristerfer Burnett. "You go in any of these businesses you'll see that there are signs in the window saying don't serve young people. They just refuse to stop."
Popeyes responded the next day with this statement.
“We closely work with local officials and respect their wishes to not serve students during the school day. Although no one from our restaurant in the shopping center was involved, we closed for the day to allow our team members to go home given the tragic events in the parking lot outside.”
Meanwhile Edmondson-Westside High School canceled all classes for Thursday , January 5, while still welcoming students for support and lunch.
This tragedy is likely to raise many emotions for our students and staff members, and we are here to help. Counselors from City Schools were at the school today to provide counseling and support to students and staff members. Our counselors, social workers, psychologists, and district staff will continue to support the Edmondson-Westside community during this difficult time.
Tomorrow, students and staff may come to the school for support. Services will be offered in the library, auditorium, wellness room, guidance suite and the Westside Skill Center Guidance Suite.
· All staff should report to work by 9 a.m. Counseling will be made available from 9 to 11 a.m.
· For students who would like to eat at school, lunch will be available starting at 11:30 a.m.
· Counseling for students will be available starting at 11:30 a.m.
Please note that we are ready and prepared to support our community as we work to heal after this tragedy. If you need help or have questions, call 410-396-0685.
Thank you.
The tragic incident happened just a couple hours after two other shootings left three people injured in the City, one minute apart.
Right now police have no potential motive or leads on the suspects. They're asking anyone with information to call 410-396-2100.
