Update
Baltimore City Police say they have a suspect in custody after a 5-year-old was shot in the head. He is 17-year-old Lamont Davis.
Police arrested Davis this morning in the Lakeland section of the city. Commissioner Fred Bealefeld went as far to call the teen a maniac.
Davis is accused of using a semiautomatic handgun to end a fight with another 17-year-old in the 300 block of South Pulaski St. As that boy fled, one of the bullets hit the little girl in the head.
She was sent to Shock Trauma in critical condition and placed on life support.
In the past 48 hours, detectives have gone door to door interviewing witnesses.
They also relied on footage from closed circuit television cameras in the area.
At a news conference Saturday afternoon, Bealefeld was angry, saying the case hardens his resolve to focus on bad guys with guns in the city.
"It's just people being dumb. Two young men being insanely stupid,” Bealefeld said. "It wasn't because a 5-year-old girl was aspiring to be a gang member. This comes down to criminals, to thugs, to maniacs on our streets with little to no parental supervision or meaningful adult contact in their lives," he said.
Davis will be charged as an adult. He faces several charges, including attempted murder and assault.
We asked for an update on the five-year-old girl, but Bealefeld said the family has asked for privacy.
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Baltimore police have arrested a teenager in the shooting of a 5-year-old girl.
Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld III says officers arrested 17-year-old Lamont Davis Saturday morning in the Lakeland section of the city. Bealefeld says Davis faces numerous charges, including attempted murder and assault.
Bealefeld says Davis used a semiautomatic handgun to shoot at another 17-year-old boy after a fight on Thursday. He says one of the bullets missed the boy as he fled, striking the girl.
The girl, who was hit in the head, was in critical condition at a hospital. Police are not releasing her name.
Bealefeld says Davis will be charged as an adult. He says the incident underscores the importance of the "fight against bad guys with guns."
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Minutes after the shooting: confusion and a child down.
“This child shot here blood coming out the side of her head man...no," said Josephine Harmanson. Neighbors watched as police scrambled to secure the scene on Pulaski and McHenry streets in Southwest Baltimore; the block where a 5 year old girl was shot in the head. All that was left were
surgical gloves, her pink flip flops and the plastic bag of hair beads she was carrying home.
“Honey, my eyes still red?” asked Harmanson, “because I was totally, totally upset because I went around the corner to see if it was one of my babies!" Mayor Sheila Dixon arrived on the scene after visiting the mother at Shock Trauma and said, “I'm just very, very angry about this. This is the beginning of someone's life and we have these thugs out here for no reason...they just don't care about life."
Police said the 5 year old and her cousin were walking home from a beauty supply store on Pratt and Pulaski when a street fight ended in gunfire. She got caught in the middle. “The baby was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” one neighbor said. Police handcuffed a young man and took him in. Meanwhile, they canvassed the neighborhood asking possible witnesses questions while the Swat Team assembled to move in on a nearby home. “We had information that the suspect may have taken flight into that house,” said Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld, “and the swat team is securing the residence and looking for a possible suspect."
While police continued their search, neighbors continued asking why as they all hold on to hope. We were later told that Swat Team raid on the home produced no results and no suspect. Still there is some good news: Police say parts of the incident were caught on closed circuit camera, that plus information from witnesses may help them solve this crime.
Update
A 5-year-old girl has been shot in the head while walking along a Southwest Baltimore Street.
City police say the girl was shot around 4:30 p.m. in the 200 Block of South Pulaski St. The girl has been taken to Shock Trauma and her condition is said to be critical.
Police remain on the scene and have closed off several streets as they continue to search for suspects. Police are talking to several people in connection with this shooting.
Mayor Shelia Dixon and City Police Commissioner Bealefeld just wrapped up a press conference.
ABC2 News' Delia Goncalves will continue to follow this story and will have the latest on abc2news.com and ABC2 News @11.
Breaking News
According to initial reports a 5-year-old child has been shot in the head in West Baltimore. It happened in the 200 block of S. Pulaski Street.
An ABC2 crew is arriving on scene right now. We'll have the very latest beginning with ABC2 News at 5:00.
