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Baltimore Police looking for Public Enemy #1, Antonio Wright

Posted at 11:32 PM, Mar 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-19 23:32:45-04

Police need your help to find Antonio Wright.  He's the man accused of causing a fire that lead to the deaths of two teens and injured six others.

Wright is being called public enemy number one. Police say  he threw two Molotov cocktails into a home early Saturday morning.  Now, family and police want justice.

Karleen sholto/victim's mother 63227 "We need to value life this gotta stop, it gotta stop," said Karleen Sholton, the mother of Shi-Heem Sholto, who along with Tyronne James, died in the fire.

Antonio Wright is believed to be the one behind their deaths and the injuries to 6 others including a 4 and 11 year old police say he threw two Molotov cocktails into this home along the 1200 block of Greenmount Avenue.

"I think they were there at the wrong place at the wrong time it's crazy," Sholto said.

Investigators say a non-fatal shooting just two days before the fire are connected and believe Saturdays' incident was retaliatory. 

"Regardless of who the targets might have been in side that house, Antonio Wright put the lives of a number of people in jeopardy to go after whomever his targets were," said T.J. Smith of the Baltimore Police Department.

"Antonio Wright threw Molotov cocktails in the house and he just didn't give a damn who was in that house, he didn't care," said Commissioner Kevin Davis.

Baltimore investigators say the fire was arson and an accelerant was used--the ATF has been called in to help.

"Arson is a very difficult crime to solve sometimes and we have to leverage all of our expertise, all of federal expertise with our state and local partners," said ATF Special Agent Matthew Varisco.

Many times, it's the tips, that make the difference between an arrest and a suspect going free.  

"We'll make this apprehension with the community.  There's no doubt in my mind and I can't thank the community enough in advance for telling us what you know," Davis said.

A reward of  $12,000 thousand dollars is being offered for tips leading to Wright's arrest .

Anyone with information on his  whereabouts is asked to call police or MetroCrime Stoppers at 1-866-7-LOCKUP.