Court documents suggest one shooting led to several others in block party at Baltimore’s Brooklyn Homes

New court documents show that police believe the mass shooting July 2 at Brooklyn Homes was actually a series of shootings, and that detectives think the teen they arrested played a larger role than his gun possession charges suggest.

The Baltimore Sun obtained charging documents for the 17-year-old that show police believe an initial shooting at the annual “Brooklyn Day” block party sparked others, ultimately leaving two people dead and 28 others wounded. Last week, sources told The Sun that authorities had recovered casings for bullets fired from more than a dozen firearms at the shooting scene.

“Numerous crime scenes were located within the parking lot in front of Gretna [Court] as well as the surrounding residential area and other courts within the Brooklyn Homes Community,” police wrote in the charging documents, listing five separate locations where crime scene technicians found casings.

Details contained in the documents provide more context about what likely was the largest mass shooting in Baltimore history, which took place at a boisterous gathering that began as a neighborhood cookout with pony rides and face painting.

The new information comes as community members and elected officials have criticized the Baltimore Police Department’s failure to mobilize after receiving numerous reports about people armed with guns and fighting at the party. Police and the Housing Authority of Baltimore City said the event caught them off guard despite advertisements promoting it ahead of time, both on social media and in flyers passed around the housing complex.

In discussing whether more police resources were needed in the area before the shooting, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley acknowledged the day after the shooting that police reacted “too late.”

Charging documents for the teen, which are shielded from public view until a court determines whether he will be tried as an adult, show how authorities have tied him to the shootings. The teen was shot in the leg. After being treated at the hospital where police interviewed him in the presence of his mother, he was discharged and arrested Friday.

Detectives sought to draw a connection between casings recovered from a pool of “suspected blood” in an alleyway near the center of the shootings and a social media video from earlier that evening that shows the teen holding what appears to be a gun.

“The defendant was captured on video surveillance in the area of 800 Gretna Ct. in possession of a rifle caliber pistol,” detectives wrote. “The weapon was removed from the defendant’s backpack and displayed to people nearby. The rifle caliber pistol is capable of firing .223 caliber bullets.”

Although the teen is charged with possession of an assault weapon, police have not recovered the gun detectives say he had. The charging documents do not say the teen fired a gun.

The teen’s attorney, Michael Clinkscale, said the teen was holding a toy gun in the video.

“We allege that what this young man had was an Orbeez gun,” said Clinkscale, referring to a toy firearm that ejects gel pellets, after a bail review hearing for his client Monday. “It’s going to be a very significant challenge to determine that this young man even had possession of a gun — a handgun or otherwise — and we are going at them because they do not have the evidence to keep this young man held.”

Despite not citing any direct evidence that showed the 17-year-old had played a role in any of the shootings, police wrote in charging documents that they were seeking to have him charged with inciting a riot. However, no such charges have been brought.

Citing the allegations in the charging documents, Baltimore District Judge Kent J. Boles Jr. ordered the teen held without bond. Boles said there was “clear and convincing evidence the defendant would pose a risk to public safety” if released.

Specifically, Boles said he was concerned about the possibility the six casings recovered at the scene could have been fired by the “rifle caliber pistol” that police said the teen possessed.

According to charging documents, the teen arrived at the party around 7 p.m. July 1 with four other young people. The shootings began around 12:30 a.m. July 2. Police do not say in the court records what time the teen removed the alleged gun from a backpack he had. The social media video shows it was taken after sundown.

“[His] actions by pulling out the firearm, would cause substantial fear in a reasonable person, who would be in the vicinity to observe his actions,” detectives wrote. “The initial shooting at 800 Gretna Ct., where [the teen] was in possession of the rifle caliber pistol, incited additional shootings within in[sic] the Brooklyn Homes Community.”

The Sun is not identifying the teen because he is charged as a minor. His charges include possession of a firearm by a minor, reckless endangerment, possession of an assault weapon, having a handgun in a vehicle and on his person — all misdemeanors. He has not been convicted of a crime and didn’t have any other pending cases, the Maryland Division of Pretrial Services and Detention told the judge Monday.

Charging documents also provided no clues as to who fatally shot Aaliyah Gonzalez, 18, and Kylis Fagbemi, 20.

Of the 28 surviving gunshot victims, many of them teenagers, three remain hospitalized, a police department spokesman said Monday. Those still hospitalized are in “fair” condition.