UPDATE: 'Credible Threat' Warning Issued that Gangs Might Target Police

Updated article:

Marblehead Police Chief Bob Picariello clarified that the alert from Baltimore Police was distributed to law enforcement agencies for the purposes of “situational awareness.”

“I am not aware of any specific credible threat on the Marblehead police specifically,” Picariello said via email. “We are always aware of situations both locally and nationally and beyond, which raise tensions.”

Original article:

By Tony Schinella

Baltimore Police, in the wake of uprisings in that city, say gang members might target law enforcement officers with violence.

The Baltimore Police Department has issued a national alert warning law enforcement agencies about a credible threat that gang members may be organizing to “take out” police officers.

The threat notification was issued earlier this morning and sent to the NLETS system. Police also requested media outlets share the information with the public.

The alert noted that the department’s Criminal Intelligence Unit had received “credible information that members of various gangs, including the Black Guerrilla Family, Bloods, and Crips, have entered into a partnership to ‘take-out’ law enforcement officers.”

The alert called the partnership “a credible threat” and advised that officers should take precautions to protect themselves.

The unrest in Baltimore is due to the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man who died in police custody on April 19, 2015, after a spinal injury, which prompted anti-police brutality demonstrations and clashes with police.