Two toddlers suffered gunshot wounds Monday night when they got caught in the crossfire of a battle between rival gang members in West Baltimore, police and witnesses said.
Bullets, among at least a dozen fired, hit a 2-year-old boy in the side and a 3-year-old girl in the leg about 10 p.m. in front of the Warwick Arms apartment complex in the 2400 block of Winchester Street, police said.
The tots were taken to hospitals but police didn?t say which. The girl, police said, was in stable condition. But the condition of the boy, who suffered a more serious wound, remained unknown.
Police said they did not have suspects or a motive for the gun battle. But residents believed it stemmed from an ongoing feud among gang members.
The gunfire erupted as the children dried off in front of an apartment building after sitting in an inflatable pool to escape the sweltering summer heat, neighbors said.
“They were cooling off in the pool,” said Tracey Williams, a resident of the apartment complex, where both children live. “Our children have to be outside because it?s too hot in the apartments, and we don?t have any air-conditioning.”
Williams expressed a sentiment heard over and over among residents Monday night: “I?m scared for my children,” she said.
Nearby, resident Killarah Black recalled the gunfire.
“It sounded like firecrackers; there were so many shots,” Black said. “The little boy was so brave, he didn?t get upset until his uncle started screaming.”
