1 high school student dead, 4 others injured in shooting at Baltimore shopping center

Christine Fernando, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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One student was killed and four others injured in a shooting Wednesday at a shopping center across the street from a Baltimore high school.

Around 11 a.m. Wednesday, the Baltimore Police Department received reports of a shooting at a shopping center across the street from Edmondson Westside High School in southwest Baltimore, Commissioner Michael S. Harrison said at a news conference.

Officers found five "juvenile males" with "varying levels of gunshot injuries" in the parking lot of the shopping center, Harrison said.

Investigators believe two shooters opened fire at a crowd gathered in front of a Popeyes restaurant at the mall before fleeing behind the building, Harrison said.

One of the students died from his injuries, Harrison said. The four others are believed to have non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

Five students from Edmondson Westside High School were shot, Baltimore City Public Schools confirmed in a statement. The school was placed under lockdown Wednesday while police investigated, according to the statement.

Harrison said investigators believe the students were at the mall during their school lunch break. The shopping center is a "hot spot" that has "had some problems" in the past, Harrison said.

Investigators did not have descriptions of the shooters, Harrison said. Police did not provide a motive.

A forensics official picks up a pair of pants while collecting evidence at the site of a shooting near Edmondson Westside High School, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in Baltimore. Police say five boys, believed to be high school students on their lunch break, were shot at a shopping center and one has died. Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said two shooters opened fire, then fled behind the building.

"We are now looking for video," he said. "We are looking for witnesses. We are looking for anything that would tell us how this happened, why this happened and who's responsible for it."

Harrison decried a "culture of violence" that he said led to the shooting.

"This did not have to happen," he said. "We're talking about the prevalence of guns. We're talking about the willingness to use them. And now we're talking about individuals who are youthful and young being involved in either being a victim of a shooting or pulling that trigger."

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott also denounced "guns flowing into our city, flowing into our communities, flowing into the hands of our young people."

"Another young life in our city is lost over nothing," he said Wednesday.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott talks to reporters at the site of a shooting near Edmondson Westside High School, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in Baltimore. Police say five boys, believed to be high school students on their lunch break, were shot at a shopping center and one has died. Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said two shooters opened fire, then fled behind the building.

Contact Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Baltimore shopping center shooting: 1 high schooler dead, 4 injured