5 teens shot at 'senior skip day' event | LiveNOW from FOX

uh the top of the next

hour. Uh, we might want to

go might out to Green Belt,

Maryland there. Uh, this is

right outside the DC area.

uh, and we still have uh

the scene. uh of this

shooting incident that

took place. uh as teens

and juveniles were

participating there. in

Senior Skip Day, uh, and law

enforcement told us that

uh shots rang out. 5

individuals all male were

injured. and so law

a press conference. on this.

So let's listen. A a recap

of what happened today?

this afternoon. officers

from the greenbot police

department responded to

Sharm Hills Park, which is

located in the 6900 block

of Hanover Parkway. uh

when they arrived on scene

the original officer

discovered about 5 to 600

what he believed to be

high school students

in the park. uh for those

that have not been there

this park is not big. So

that's a lot of kids.

jammed into this

particular space. Um, he

requested additional

officers to respond to the

park. and a number of

officers from the greenbot

police department as well

as the Prince George's

County Police Department.

and the Maryland state

assistance. uh officers

arrived on scene. uh and

began trying to control

traffic and the crowd

as well. and while those

officers were walking into

the park. uh, they heard the

sound of gunshots. they

believed that that time to

be a number of shots not

verified but

8 to 10 gunshots, uh

officers, responded to where

those shots came from. and

an active shooter response.

Uh, not only members of the

greenbot police department.

again. Prince George's

County Police Department

and the Maryland State

Police. officers responded.

individuals. uh the

immediately began providing

Medical Care to those

individuals. uh while they

secured the area and

search for a suspect. at

that moment when the shots

were fired all of those

individuals that were

in the park began to flee

out on a Handover Parkway.

uh when they did that we

believe that the suspect

left with them. uh and

fled the park. Uh, we had

not looked at him at this

point. uh officers

provided Medical Care to

those 5 individuals who were

transported to local

of those 5 individuals is

16 to 18. Uh all 5 were

taken to an area Hospital.

1 is in critical condition

the other 4 are listed as

in stable condition. This

is currently an active

investigation. and we are

looking for any information

from those individuals who

may have been at the

party. uh to be able to

particular suspect. anybody

who has information. can

contact the greenbot police

department at 301-474-7200.

Let me say that this is a

horrible. tragic. senseless.

act that happened today

There's absolutely no

reason that this occurred.

Um, it is senseless It is

chronic in our society. and

we have to do something

to stop it. These were

kids on Senior Skip Day

uh, who were looking to

have a good time at a

local park? uh and to have

uh is just it's

maddening, honestly. and to

the to the individuals that

classmates to the school.

to our community. This

isn't just going to be

something that affects. a

small group of people. this

affects. not only the city

of Green Belt, but our

entire County our entire

State these are kids. These

are high school kids. and

and this is just

unnecessary unacceptable and

we have to come together

and find a way. to keep

this from happening.

you know. it. this again.

I'm pretty upset by this

and and there's just there's

got to be a way to get this

to stop happening. um

with that I'll ask my

city manager to come

forward if say a few words.

This is a very unfortunate

event that happened. Uh

there's really no words to

to say how senseless this

violence is and I agree

with the chief that we

have to find ways. Uh,

getting guns off our streets

and doing more. on how we

can help or young people

have better relationships

with each other because

hurting each other. Um Like

Chief said this is an

investigation so we have uh

further. evidence and

details to highlight in the

coming days. and I hope

that we can find a

resolution. Uh, and find the

person responsible or

persons responsible for this

senseless act of violence.

now leading up to the event

our officers were on scene

and I feel fortunate that

we had so many officers

already on the scene. uh

that were there and I'm

reducing the number of

victims in in this incident.

I also am grateful for the

numerous law enforcement

agencies that were already

on response to this

incident and that includes

the uh, Prince George's

County Police. uh, Berwin

Heights. um, Maryland State

Police We also had support

from ATF and the FBI. and

we're grateful for all the

assistance that we

received. uh moving

forward. We're going to be

unscheduled activities that

are happening. in our

community. Um, we're

going to we're going to

play a greater role and

tracking and Reporting these

incidents. um with that

said, thank you for your for

your patience as we look

for Swift resolutions to

this open case and this

hand the floor over to

our mayor. meet up

informally organized on

social media so I I've

been told that the the

group. migrated here from

another area. So our schools

and uh recreational

facilities in green belts

were locked down and we've

of an abundance of caution

so I'm just grateful that

our officers were able to.

quickly help. on the scene

and we're grateful for the

support. of the county

and the state I received a

call from uh, the governor.

stating his support so our

thoughts are with with the

families. with the

classmates. and with the

victims. it's just this

unnecessary. and

if a group of high school

students cannot get

together and have a good

time. What what is the

world coming to you? So

we're we're shocked. Uh

We're grateful for the

support. but we have to

find a way to uh to deal

with. the situations like

this before before

they're happy. so at

this time, I think we're

going to take questions.

So senator, Washington

that you have, uh, sure.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good

evening. everyone. My name

is Alonzo, Washington. I'm a

state senator represents

green belt and this area.

um today is a tough day.

for now only green belters,

but for marylanders. uh to

see the census violence

hometown. of green belt. Um,

Miss hurtful. It's not

hurtful to me, but it's

hurtful to the entire

state. our students and our

place. even in a grocery

store. or at a park. they

deserve to be safe. and

unfortunately this this we

we unfortunately that

happened today. our

students were not safe. And

they deserve to be safe.

And so we're going to do

everything we can to

provide the resources that

our city needs and our

County needs to make sure

we bring the individuals

that caused this to

Justice. Thank you very

much. Thank you senator. So

before we start taking

questions just a couple of

of points. Um like I said,

this is an active

investigation So at this

time we won't release a lot

of information. onto the

details of that particular

investigation. Uh, I will

say you know 1 of the things

that in these kinds of

instances. you know, the

officers were there. and

and what they did that to

get out there and make sure

that nobody else was

injured and provide medical

Aid, you know, it's the

kind of thing that that

really you know, is what

they trained to do on a

regular basis and I I can't

thank the individual

officers enough uh for

their response. not only our

officers with the city of

Green Belt, but the Prince

George's County and the

Maryland state police

officers, they all responded

effectively. utilize their

training to secure the

scene and provide medical

care. and then that

could be the the difference

between you know, somebody

making it to the hospital

and some may not so can't say

enough about the quality of

of the response from the

officers really want to

thank them. Thank you for

coming. and making this

story public. Um, you know,

the the French George County

Fire Department was on

scene and really was a big

benefit.

They they provided all all

that medical care and

transport, so thank you to

them. you know and to the

families of those those

young men that were

injured, you know again. I

have kids. now I can't

imagine if my kids were

involved in something like

that. You know, I my heart

breaks for them. I mean,

these are just kids trying

to have a good time and

this is what was what

we're treating our kids to

and

how they're they're growing

up. It's completely I'm

speechless. um, and so to

those those parents my heart

breaks for them. you know

in a speedy recovery to

their kids and anything we

can do to close

out investigation we will

um, so at this point I'll

take a handful of

questions. I want to be

time. Um, customer Pope

know, Okay, I'll take it,

uh questions. We'll we'll

start Yes, ma'am. Chief. at

this time I I can't

confirm. the number of

suspects involved, but we

believe there was 1 water

guns as well was guns

happening at this park or

the previous event that was

taking place in booie. Now

that that that was here,

Uh, so you know what

happens is on these these

the kids that leave the

school and they come over

to the local park. uh, and

they bring Super Soakers and

other squirt guns and and

they have they have a

good time playing water gun

battles. Um, happened last

year. uh and was relatively

peaceful the number of

occasions We had last year.

We didn't have any

incidents. Uh, and so

you know, this is this is

unfortunate, I guess I said,

know, we were all High

School Kids 1 time or

another and and so we

might not condone skipping

school. but it's it's the

Senior Skip Day and

you know this kind of thing

is just It's a tragedy that

happens on such a an

occasion for these kids. you

mentioned last year the the

incident how much? if

anything was known. about

this event that was coming

Was there any stance that

was we we did not know

about this. Um until it

happened. Uh, and 1 of the

things that occurs is the

city has Park Rangers and

they make regular patrols

through that Park They had

been through the park

a little after 1:30. Uh, and

there was nobody there. uh

when they came when

we got the second call to

come back just before

2:30. That's when all these

kids and materialized in

the park. So it is

something that we're aware

of and we we Patrol the

parks regularly. uh, whether

it be police staff or our

park ranger staff, Uh, so

we do have a presence

in the parks on a pretty

regular basis. uh, and it

was in a pretty short time

frame that all of these

individuals showed up. Yes,

sir. And you mentioned agent

then um just follow up

We've Linked UP. came back

come back to me. Yeah. Yes,

sir. Um. how many high

schools were involved in

this, You know, I I do not

know the number of of

schools that were

involved. Yeah. Stable is

not a condition. Do you

know Fair good? Uh, they

what I was told by the

hospital is stable.

hundreds, uh seniors from

different high schools in

the district Or are there?

1 or 2 specific schools? Cuz

we know it's starting in

how many different schools

are associated and I I don't

want to speculate at this

point because I don't know. I

do know that they were

kids from aleno Roosevelt

High School. uh, as well

as kids from perhaps,

buoy and maybe some of the

other adjoining high

schools.

Look like there was a

a vehicle that was pulled

over in about 11 young

men. Can you tell me about

that process? of any uh,

if anybody's being looked

at? and those people are

still being detained so

that was that was just

part of the sort of the

routine. that I don't

that initial response. uh

and stopping and identifying

individuals that may or

may not have what we

believe that that time to

been associated. all those

individuals have been uh

cleared at this point and

released. were there any

security cameras in the

area? know there are no

security cameras there.

nothing that the students

speak We we are hoping

that uh that the the

students will come

forward. Uh, we're already

starting to see some video

online. Uh, and we know

that there's going to be a

lot more of that kind of

video out there. So we're

really hoping that the

students will start sending

us that video or at least

post it so we can get it

from their uh, because we

know that the person

involved is definitely on

a camera somewhere Like

I said there was about 20

police officers, So we

have a lot of body

worn camera footage. Uh,

and so we'll scrub through

all of that as well. Uh

as we try to locate

anybody that might have been

involved. Yes, sir. What's

your preliminary

understanding of possible

motives? Here We we have

nothing at this point. I I

don't even want to begin to

speculate on what a motive

was. for the victims random

as you understand it I I

can't answer that question.

I don't know. What what was

um, I guess the goal of

having the officers there

in the first place And what

them getting there and these

shots being fired. They

they had been on scene

about 10 to 15 minutes,

I believe. uh before the

shots were fired, you know,

obviously the the reason

they were there is because

when you have 5 to 600

kids in a park, I mean

there's a lot of things

that can happen. Uh, and so

that presence to make sure

that it stays as a

relatively fun event for the

kids. uh was the entire

purpose. the other issue

that we we can had was the

traffic uh along the

adjoining roadway was

completely stopped from all

the cars. Uh, and so they

had to get that relieved.

uh, as well as monitor the

crowd. um our initial

response was to simp simply

monitor the crowd. Um and

let them you know, let them

use the park. Um, you know,

it's it's a lawful

activity. There'd be no

reason to kick them

out of the park. Uh, and so

we were going to let them

use the park. Uh, and and

unfortunately it didn't

happen. All right. so the

chief law enforcement officer

there for green Belt,

on this. um pretty scary

and dangerous shooting

incident today that

happened. uh at this park

there were hundreds of

young people there.

Uh, they're kind of turning

this this senior. Skip Day

shooting. 5 individuals. uh

were 5 by gunfire. uh, and

they were all male. uh

3 of them adults 2

of them. Uh, juveniles and

so we'll just have to wait

and see if we get any more

updates. We've been

in touch with our Fox 5,

DC folks as well. They're

covering this story but

still just a scary situation

there. So I wanted to

make sure you heard all of

that. uh in the meantime

here, I'm Andrew craft.

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