UPDATE Feb. 6: This attack appears to be domestic-violence related. The suspect and the victim had been in a relationship but, according to police, had “separated after some time dating,” reports the Baltimore Sun. After his apprehension by police, the suspect admitted to the shooting and wanting the victim dead.
A 24-year-old employee at the University of Maryland Medical School is on life support after being shot outside the hospital’s Shock Trauma Center on Monday.
The suspected gunman, 26-year-old Jamar Haughton, was apprehended by police about two blocks north of the hospital. A loaded gun was found on his person, reports The Baltimore Sun.
Haughton has been charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and several firearm-related charges.
Baltimore City Police responded to the report of a shooting in the 600 block of West Redwood Street at approximately 7:15 a.m. The victim, who was shot in the face and the buttocks, was taken across the street to the hospital for treatment.
“He is critically ill. We are, of course, quite hopeful everything will be OK, but it is way too early to tell at this point,“ Dr. Thomas Scalea, head of the trauma center, said during a news conference.
The hospital quickly returned to normal operations following a brief lockdown.
Baltimore City Police Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Jones says the suspect and the victim know each other. He did not give details for a possible motive but called it an “isolated event.”
Jones also said both the Baltimore police and the University of Maryland police had increased patrols around the hospital prior to Monday’s shooting but that it wasn’t tied to any one crime.
On Monday, both inside and outside the hospital were Baltimore police, hospital police, private security and downtown partnership security.
Violence has plagued the city of Baltimore in recent years. In 2018, the homicide rate was 56 per 100,000 people, a rate the FBI called well above that of any other large U.S. city.
Between Jan. 1, 2018 and Nov. 10, 2018, 819 people were shot. Of that number, 270 died. This year, there have already been 28 murders in the city, according to CBS Local.
“I’ve done way too many of these things with you guys,” Scalea added at the conference. “This one is as close to home as it has ever been.”
