A teenager remains in critical, but stable, condition at Shock Trauma after Baltimore Police say he attempted to car jack a 73-year-old man at Carroll Park Wednesday afternoon.
The shooting, which police said occurred at about 4 p.m., is the subject of an ongoing, but standard, criminal investigation, police said Thursday.
ABC2 has confirmed the identity of the man involved in the shooting, but is not releasing the man's name because he is the victim of a crime.
He is a licensed private investigator registered with the state police, and is a contracted investigator with the office of the Baltimore City Public Defender.
Officials at that office couldn't talk about the nature of his work citing its sensitive nature.
But he also operated a business out of an address listed inside the city, according to online records from the Maryland State Police.
Baltimore Police said when the man shot the 13-year-old suspected car jacker, he believed he was in imminent danger after the teen pointed a replica gun in his direction.
“You’re not going to recognize this, in a high stress environment, as a fake gun,” Baltimore Police spokesman Chief T.J. Smith said.
Police said the shooting happened when the teen approached the man with a group of friends, as he sat in his car eating.
The teen then tried to open the car door when the man used a lawfully registered gun to shoot the 13-year-old once in the head.
A man at the park Thursday afternoon said he watched the group of teens scatter after the shooting happened.
The Baltimore City Council gave approval to an ordinance that establishes penalties for people possessing gun replicas. The bill's sponsor, former Councilman James Kraft, said the responsibility falls on parents and caregivers.
“This is exactly what we were going after,” Kraft said of his legislation.
Meanwhile, police are focused on solving the overall, upward trend of citywide car jackings, which are up 52 percent, Smith said.
“The police commissioner announced a few weeks back the quadrupling of robbery detectives to investigate crimes like this,” Smith said.
Smith said car jackings among juveniles are up 70 percent this year over last, increasing from 16 in 2015 to 27 so far in 2016.
There have also been 230 juveniles arrested as a result of stolen vehicles, he said.
Police will consult with the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s office to determine what, if any, charges will be filed against the teen.
RELATED: Baltimore Police say former officer shot carjacking suspect in Carroll Park
Download the ABC2 News app for the iPhone, Kindle and Android.
