Interim commissioner blames lack of judgement, communication leading to Baltimore’s mass shooting
By KELSEY KUSHNER
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BALTIMORE (WJZ) — On Thursday, members of the Baltimore City Council grilled police and other city agencies on what contributed to the deadly mass shooting in the Brooklyn Homes community.
Acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley told them that the department should have been more prepared for the Brooklyn Day block party that turned violent.
He blamed a lack of communication and judgment in the aftermath of the mass shooting.
“There were multiple points at which the public was requesting assistance at which we should have had a broader understanding of what was happening on the ground and we should have requested more resources for the Brooklyn Homes,” Worley said. “While we initially believe this incident was mostly caused by a breakdown of intelligence gathering and deficient community policing. As we continue to review, those factors did play a role, but it seems from what we’ve learned so far, this was an even greater breakdown in communication and judgment that was just unacceptable.”
Worley told City Council members that police received two calls before 10 p.m. on July 2 in regards to the number of children in the Brooklyn Homes area during the annual event. One of the calls said some were armed.
The Baltimore City Council questioned several agencies to find out what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting that left two dead and 28 others, between the ages of 13 and 28, injured.
Worley faced tough questions about what went wrong that night.
Worley told the Council the police department should’ve been actively working to find out when the Brooklyn block party was happening since it is an annual event.
In that case, officers would have been in place, Worley said.
The council heard from the City Housing Authority, the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the Department of Transportation and Baltimore City Police, too.
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