Shootout between speeding cars rattles otherwise quiet neighborhood

By Annie Rose Ramos

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    BALTIMORE, Maryland (WJZ) — Baltimore City crime spilled into the quiet neighborhood of Hampden Sunday night after a shootout on Elm Avenue. The shooting happened between moving cars and spanned blocks, leaving the street covered in shell casings, and houses and cars damaged.

Neighbors say they feel in shock and are rattled.

When residents first heard the commotion outside, they thought it was a noisy truck or someone dragging their trash can – but instead, it was a shootout. Now, residents there are weighing whether it’s safe to stay in the city.

A Ring camera showed two cars racing down Elm Street in Hampden around 8:30 Sunday night. No injuries have been reported.

“We both jumped, she screamed, we kind of just stood there for a few seconds not knowing what to do or think,” Elm Avenue resident Yotam said.

Edward Hamer’s car was damaged.

I figured somebody had side-swiped it,” he said. “I mean shells were just all over the place, so know from that that it was some kind of bullets.

Jim Hennessey’s car was struck three times by bullets. “Two holes in the fender and there’s a graze wound on the other side near the window,” he said.

But ultimately, Hennessey is grateful no one was hurt Sunday night.

“We have a dog that we walk and that time would have been a time where my wife very well could have been out there,” he said.

Now, their community waits for answers from the police.

But Hammer said he asked one officer, “how do you investigators keep up with all these shootings, because it’s not happening once a day, it’s happening several times a day.”

Hennessey said what frustrated him the most “is the idea that there are a number of people around the city with guns.”

Their Councilwoman, Odette Ramos (D-14th District), said she’s hoping they’ll get more information and police will get to the bottom of what happened, adding, “this doesn’t make sense, if you’re trying to solve a problem you can’t do it with a gun.”

Police told WJZ most of the damage was found at the intersection of Elm and 37th Street.

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