5 Teenage Boys Shot At Greenbelt Park During High School Senior Skip Day: Police

GREENBELT, MD — Around 2:30 p.m. Friday, Greenbelt Police were called to Schrom Hills Park located at 6915 Hanover Parkway to help with an unofficial senior skip day gathering of hundreds of kids. Instead, they found themselves in the midst of a shooting.

There were more than 500 individuals at the park believed to be high school students participating in senior skip day on April 19. The students were from many different schools in Prince George's County, according to the Greenbelt Police Department.

Senior skip day has been a tradition for area high school seniors.

“These kids will leave the school and they come over to the local park, and they bring Super Soakers and other squirt guns and they have a good time playing water-gun battles,” Greenbelt Police Chief Rick Bowers said during a press conference Friday. “(It) happened last year and it was relatively peaceful.”

Officers from the Greenbelt Police Department, Prince George's County Police Department, Maryland State Police, U.S. Park Police, ATF, FBI and Berwyn Heights arrived at the scene to help with traffic and crowd control.

“For those that have been there, this park is not big, so that is a lot of kids jammed into this particular space,” Greenbelt Police Chief Richard Bowers said at a news conference Friday afternoon.

While officers were walking in the park, they heard multiple gunshots ring out. They ran toward the sound and found five teenage boys who'd been shot. They range in age from 16 to 18, the police department reported.

Police secured the area, searched for the injured and provided medical care to the wounded teens. The students at the park ran off and the suspect escaped with the crowd; police believe there is one shooter. One student is in critical condition and was airlifted to a local hospital, said Greenbelt police spokesperson Ricardo Dennis, and four are listed in stable condition, according to the police department.

"This is a horrible, senseless, tragic act that happened today," Bowers said. "There is absolutely no reason that this occurred. It is senseless. It is chronic in our society, and we have to do something to stop it. These were kids on senior skip day who were looking to have a good time at a local park. And to have something like this occur, it's just maddening, honestly."

Eleanor Roosevelt High School nearby was placed on lockdown because of the shooting and afternoon activities were canceled. Bowers said during the news conference that it’s too soon to determine a possible motive or whether the suspect knew the victims. Investigators will be reviewing body-worn camera footage from responding officers and are asking anyone with information about the shooting to come forward. Greenbelt Mayor Emmett Jordan said he is grateful the officers were able to respond so quickly.

“Our thoughts are with the families, with the classmates, with the victims,” said Jordan. “If a group of high school students cannot get together and have a good time — what is the world coming to?”

The incident remains under investigation and help is needed from the community. Anyone with information or video footage of the gathering at the park is asked to call police at 301-474-7200 or email crimetips@greenbeltmd.gov.