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2 teens shot in Bay Ridge Gardens

LISA BEISEL Staff Writer

Published 09/04/08

Two teens were shot yesterday afternoon in Bay Ridge Gardens Apartments, the site of a double homicide earlier this year.

Paul W. Gillespie - The Capital Annapolis police investigate the shooting of two teenage boys in Bay Ridge Gardens Apartments Wednesday afternoon. Both teens were treated for superficial injuries and released from the hospital, police said.

Police were called to 25 Bens Drive at 4:37 p.m. for the report of shots fired and found the wounded teens.

One victim, Terico E. Childs, 15, of Pleasant Street was shot in the right arm and was taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center by ambulance.

The other victim, Demario D. Harrod, 19, of Old Muddy Creek Road in Edgewater, was hit in the upper chest and arm and was taken by ambulance to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, city fire officials said.

Both were released by about 8 p.m. yesterday.

Officer Hal Dalton, a city Police Department spokesman, said the teens appeared to be injured superficially, having been hit with either ricochets or fragmented bullets. The victims have told police they don't know who shot them.

According to reports, there were numerous people out on the street at the time of the shooting, but many witnesses are telling police they saw or heard nothing. When police arrived, few people remained outside the apartment complex and many declined to talk to a reporter.

The shooting happened less than one block from the site of the Jan. 19 double homicide. No one has been arrested in connection with those deaths.

Chief Michael A. Pristoop said police have no reason to believe the shooting has any connection to those homicides or to any other crime.

"We have good preliminary information. We are aggressively pursuing this case and we are hoping for a quick resolution," he said.

Officer Dalton said Bay Ridge Gardens is seen as a "more active" area.

"We're going to have to focus more energy there," he said.

He suggested that since police are putting anextra focus in other neighborhoods, crime may be getting pushed into Bay Ridge Gardens, a federally subsidized complex.

Officer Dalton urged residents to contact police about any suspicious activity in the neighborhood, whether it is someone with a gun or someone trespassing.

"They can nip things in the bud by letting us know early," he said.

Ronnie Holland was inside his apartment when he heard five or six shots ring out.

"That sounds awful close," he recalled saying at the time.

It seemed for a while like violence in the neighborhood had subsided, but now he's not sure.

"It just came up again," he said.

He is trying to move out of the apartment complex.

For now, "we stay in the house or out back. We don't go out front no more," Mr. Holland said.

Mr. Holland attributes some problems in the neighborhood to people coming from the outside to do drugs.

He added that residents still talk about the January killings of Charles Cully Jr., 29, of Marcs Court, and Cecelia Brown, 51, who were well-liked in the neighborhood.

"Everybody's mad because (police) didn't find the killer," he said. "Everybody still talks about it.

Another resident who declined to be named said crime and violence in the neighborhood never subsided.

"Everybody's busy about doing devilish things," he said.

Mayor Ellen O. Moyer noted that many homicides in the past have been drug-related.

"We still have a drug territory problem going on. Obviously we've reduced some of it. The appearance is a lot of the drug traffickers looking for other territory, but not all," she said.

Ms. Moyer said that stamping out drugs, especially in young people, is both a short-term and long-term problem.

"We still have a lot more work to do, obviously," she said.

Stanford Erickson, organizer of an anti-crime group based in Eastport, said the shooting was "discouraging" in light of all the improvements his group has observed.

"Hopefully this is just an isolated incident," he said.

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Appeals - 2008-09-08 12:15:23

It is the appeals process that has allowed the legal system to catch those individuals who were wrongly convicted to be released from their death sentence. I understand that some people have a "kill them all and let God sort it out" type of mentality, but I would argue that that type of argument is counter to the idea of justice.

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R. Black - Churchton, MD - Karma: Neutral

Murder - 2008-09-08 09:59:32

J.C. your right. They need to enforce the death penatly and stop all those appeals.

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R. Smith - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

Murder - 2008-09-06 08:52:03

Enforce the death penalty. Weed out the prisons making room for new criminals. This is the answer...

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J C. - Linthicum, MD - Karma: Bad

Mr. Hollands' quote - 2008-09-05 16:33:10

The police can't solve cases without evidence and credible witnesses. As with the January case Mr. Holland mentions - the police can't solve crimes when all these bystanders "see and hear nothing". As for the previous comment - these people aren't getting shot for nothing. It's all about the drug trade. The same reason no one will talk - they might be dead next week. It's a catch 22.

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T. Jackson - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

wake up! - 2008-09-05 07:46:00

what this world coming to??? people shooting people for no reason and it doesnt help the fact that people look at the cops as bad people, when are we going to WAKE UP and relize that the cops are there to help us and if only we comply just maybe we wont have as many shootings!! wake up people this could have been your son! think about that!

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Kristine Raslevich - crofton, MD - Karma: Bad