Visitors 79
Modified 19-Aug-21
Created 8-May-21
0 photos
In the early morning hours of Saturday, May 8, 2021 the normally quiet neighborhood of Parkville Crossing in Woodlawn was rocked by an explosion and the sounds of gunfire. At around 0630 hours Baltimore County 9-1-1 operators began receiving numerous calls reporting gunshots along with an explosion and massive fire in a townhouse in the 7500 block of Maury Road. Simultaneously the Baltimore County Police and Fire Department arrived on the scene. With an active shooter on location and a 2-story townhouse fully involved the Fire Department was ordered to stage until police stabilized the situation. The police were confronted with an armed man indiscriminately shooting and several people already down at the scene. The shooter was immediately put down by the responding officers. Medics then rushed in to tend to the victims that were shot. Additional medic units were requested. Two other victims died at the scene and another person was taken to Shock Trauma where he died later. One other person was transported to the hospital and suffered non-life threatening injuries. It was surmised that the shooter had set fire to his own home to lure his neighbors out of their homes to shoot them.
Fire Department personnel were then able to get into the street and start to control the raging fire. Battalion Chief 2 was in command and requested a working fire assignment followed by a second alarm several minutes later. The 2-story second unit in from the end was fully involved with fire extending to both side exposures. Within minutes the involved building collapsed.
Firefighters quickly checked both exposures for any other victims and fire extension. All units were quickly withdrawn and exterior operations were established due to the instability of the buildings involved. A collapse zone was established for fear of another major collapse. Trucks 13 and 18 maintained ladder pipes from positions in the front and rear of both buildings until gas lines could be shut down. The fire was being fed by broken gas lines on both sides so it couldn’t be completely put out. It was held in check until BG&E was dispatched to the scene to find the buried gas lines that fed the buildings. It was several hours before they did locate and shut down the affected gas lines. Several hours into the incident the remaining end unit totally collapsed to the ground.
The USAR team was dispatched along with HazMat crews to the scene. A building engineer was also called in to check the integrity of the remaining structures. Fire Investigators along with ATF Agents remained on the scene throughout the rest of the day searching the debris for any other victims and to find the exact cause of the fire. The Baltimore County Police are also working with neighbors and the shooters family to figure out why this incident happened.
Category:
Subcategory:
Subcategory Detail:
Keywords: