Seven people, including a three-year-old boy, were wounded in a shooting on a Baltimore street on Wednesday night, with police rushing the injured toddler to hospital in a patrol car.
Gunfire broke out at about 9pm in central Baltimore, prompting an officer nearby to race towards the scene after hearing the shots. The boy was found among several victims on East Fayette Street.
Officers placed the child in a police cruiser and drove him to a nearby hospital rather than waiting for an ambulance. Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said the toddler was taken into surgery.
Despite the number of people hit, all seven injuries were described by authorities as non-life-threatening. Five of the other six victims were treated by medics at the scene before being taken to hospital, while another made their own way there.
The shooting happened about half a mile from Johns Hopkins Hospital. Police sealed off surrounding streets as investigators began examining the scene and searching for evidence.
Commissioner Worley said police believed more than one person had opened fire, although they had not established how many shooters were involved.
Investigators were preparing to review surveillance footage from the area to identify those responsible and piece together what happened before the attack.
Worley condemned the gunmen as “cowards” as officers launched a hunt for those involved.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott also appealed to the perpetrators to turn themselves in. Police had announced no arrests in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
The ages and identities of the six other wounded people had not been released.
