2-Year-Old Shot In Baltimore Road Rage Incident: Police

BALTIMORE, MD — A 2-year-old is hospitalized after a shooting in Baltimore Saturday that police said stemmed from road rage. The driver of the car with the 2-year-old had honked at the shooter after a traffic light turned green, according to investigators.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison called the shooting a "cowardly violent act we believe to be an act of road rage."

The suspect is described as a heavyset black man with dreadlocks who was driving a gray or silver minivan, Harrison said.

Officers from the central district were called to the 600 block of West Franklin Street for an alert through the Shotspotter system, which detected gunfire in the area at 12:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12. Police did not find a victim or suspect, he said, but soon after, officers were called to a hospital where a shooting victim had walked in for treatment.

A 2-year-old boy was being treated for a gunshot wound to the stomach, Harrison said. The child is in somewhat stable condition and is expected to survive, Harrison said.

Investigators believe the child was in a car that was stopped at a red light, behind other vehicles that were also stopped. When the light turned green, Harrison said the other vehicles did not move, so the driver of the car containing the child beeped the horn several times, then drove around the stopped cars.

The driver of the first vehicle stopped at the light caught up to and shot at the vehicle that drove around the others, Harrison said, hitting the 2-year-old boy inside.

"This is a coward who fired out of his car indiscriminately into another car," the commissioner said at a press conference Saturday morning.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a reward of $15,000 for information leading to the arrest of the suspect.

"You shot a child," Harrison said, encouraging the gunman to turn himself in to authorities. "Whoever you thought you were shooting at, you didn't shoot. You shot a child, a 2-year-old."

Anyone who knows anything or thinks they may know anything about the case is asked to contact the Baltimore Police Department or Metro Crime Stoppers.

Here's how to submit tips:

• Call Baltimore's central district at 410-396-2411.
• Call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP. Tipsters may remain anonymous.
• Text tips to the Baltimore Police Department at 443-902-4824.
• Download the Baltimore Police app to submit a tip online.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the reward amount. It is $15,000, not $50,000 as previously stated.