BALTIMORE — By the time police arrived in the 3500 block of Brehms Lane in East Baltimore, neighbors, like Byrell Hopkins, had already sought cover from what sounded like a barrage of bullets.
“The kids was running through the in-between here up the alley and I didn’t think anything of it, and then, I heard about four shots,” Hopkins told us.
It now appears they may have been pursuing a vehicle in the area, which took gunfire, killing 15-year-old John Lewis in the back seat.
RELATED: Three arrested after 15-year-old killed, 19-year-old injured in East Baltimore shooting
Police have now arrested 35-year-old Robsheead Alexander and a pair of 19-year-olds, Zion Wimbish and Ra’Shawn Smith in connection with the murder.
Charging documents say Smith, Wimbish, Lewis and Alexander were all in the car together as they met to exchange guns.
An argument between Smith and Lewis led to a fight in the backseat of the car. Within moments, shots were fired in the backseat, knocking out a window in the process.
During the commotion, Smith was shot in the leg and he got out of the car.
Alexander got out of the car and allegedly shot Lewis through the back window multiple times.
Lewis was taken to the hospital and was later pronounced deceased.
Smith was taken to the hospital where he was later formally charged.
Hopkins remembers seeing him limping out of a nearby alley.
“He looked down this way. He looked like he got spooked, and then, he seen his friends or whoever, relatives or whatever, walking up this way,” recounted Hopkins, “So by the time I went from the kitchen window to this middle window, the cops had him right here and they had him on the ground."
A young man’s life cut short and three others changed forever with no known motive for the violence.
“I was at the Brooklyn Days experience when like thirty people got shot up. It was a block party. Terrible, and I just felt so bad for that young man,” said Malachi Jones who had just left the nearby Civic Works when the shooting unfolded, “I’m like dang… just send my condolences to his family. A lot of people in Baltimore City need to stay out of the way and stop living that gangster lifestyle, cause it’s not it.”
