A 16-year-old boy has been confirmed dead and four other male students injured after a shooting incident at a Baltimore shopping centre in the United States.
The injured victims are two 17-year-olds and two 18-year-olds, the police said.
The shooting took place on Wednesday outside Popeyes and Rita’s Italian Ice, a restaurant in the shopping centre, which is across the street from the victims’ school — Edmondson-Westside High School.
Michael Harrison, Baltimore’s police commissioner, said the students were on lunch break when two shooters opened fire with multiple rounds and then fled.
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“We’re 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 said.
The commissioner said the shooting did not occur during a school activity, adding that a police officer had just left the shopping centre to check on an incident two blocks away when the shooting broke out.
Baltimore has a daytime curfew for anyone younger than 16 at businesses and public places during school days.
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Brandon Scott, the city’s mayor, said businesses in the shopping centre had been asked not to serve students during school hours.
In a series of tweets, Baltimore City Public Schools said the families of the victims have been notified, adding that counselling would be offered to those traumatised by the incident.
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
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Considering today’s events, classes at Edmondson-Westside are canceled for Jan 5. This tragedy will likely raise many emotions for our students & staff, and we are here to help. Tomorrow, students and staff may come to the school for support. Info: https://t.co/4yFraVQFhA pic.twitter.com/dwEJzwJdXn
— Baltimore City Public Schools (@BaltCitySchools) January 4, 2023
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